Akatsuki s Baby Blossom
by Catten90
Summary: Sakura has had a hard Life. Will it be better once she meets the Akatsuki? AU story. Contains a lot of drama as well as sweetness and some angst. I am new to fanfic, this is my first uploaded novel. I do not have English as first language so please forgive eventual errors (I m Swedish). All reviews are welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Akatsukis Baby Blossom

Chapter One

17 year old Sakura dreaded the new day as the sun slowly made its way up on the horizon. Despite her graduation the day before, she was not happy. Her grades had been among the top ten, yet it had not been enough for her parents. They always demanded more of her…

It had started 7 years ago, when my brother Sasori moved out. I did not know it then, but he had finally had enough of our parents. That´s what drove him away. Mother had been hysteric when he left and I had never seen Father so angry… At first I too had been angry at Sasori for leaving me, especially when I realized what had driven him away. I was only ten years old when he left but it didn´t take long for me to forgive him. I only wished he had taken me with him but I realized that he couldn´t, yet I wondered why he hadn´t come back for me. Had he forgotten me? Or didn´t he care that I now lived in the same hell that had driven him away? Had he forgotten that our parents were true monsters?

We had moved to another city shortly after Sasori left us, and all this time I have been telling myself that the only reason Sasori hadn´t come back for me was that he couldn´t find me. But that didn´t stop the thoughts from running wild at night. It was after all only the thought of Sasori coming back to save me that kept me from going insane or killing myself.

I looked away from the rising sun and instead turned my gaze to my room. The walls were a dirty white and the brown wooden floor was discolored and in some places even broken. I had a narrow, hard bed and a carton with the few clothes I owned but that was pretty much it. I let out a sigh when my alarm clock went off and told me that I needed to start the new day even if I didn´t want to. I gathered up some clothes and quickly went into the bathroom across the hall from my bedroom. I took a 5 minute shower and dressed in some black shorts and a simple red t-shirt. I collected my long, natural pink hair in a bun on top of my head and then took a good look on myself in the dirty mirror. I actually liked the way I looked. I had a heart shaped face with big eyes that shone a stunning emerald when I was happy. My eyes had been a dull, dark green for years now. My skin was pale but flawless and my body toned thanks to the krav maga lessons I went to in secret. I told my parents that it was after school tutoring so that they would let me go. I had softly rounded hips and was a proud c-cup. The only thing about my body that I really didn´t like was the many scars and never fading bruises.

I heard my parents move around in their bedroom and hurried down to the kitchen to start my daily chores by making their breakfast. I quickly got the coffee brewing and started on the pancakes. When my parents came down everything was on the table and without a word to me they took their places and started to eat. At first I thought that it would go well this time but then…

"Sakura!" My father's hard voice froze me on the spot and I slowly looked up. "The coffee taste like shit." He said and then, without warning, he poured the scalding hot coffee over my bare hands. I bit back a scream of pain and rushed to put my aching hands in cold water. Tears pooled in my eyes but I refused to let them fall, instead I simply bandaged my now skinless hands and continued with my chores for the day. That´s how my days had been for the last 7 years, filled with pain, torture and humiliation.

When I went to bed that night my ribs were bruised and I had several shallow cuts on my legs besides the burns on my hands.

This continued for another two weeks before something finally changed.

My hands had once again been badly burned during breakfast and my ribs were black and blue from not cleaning the living room well enough. But when mother hit me because I wasn´t finished with the laundry in time, something inside me snapped and I hit her back.

For a second or so everything was in total silence, but then mother screamed and I realized my mistake. Even if I was the best student in my krav maga class I still couldn´t take down both of my parents at the same time, because they had madness on their side. I ran towards the stairs but just as I got there, father was behind me and hit me with something hard in the head. I felt everything spin out of control as I tumbled down the stairs. Before I´d gotten up on my feet, father was over me and dragged me by my hair into the kitchen. He tied my hands up with a kitchen towel as I was shaking in fear and begging for forgiveness. Fathers reply was to gag me with another towel and give me a hard kick to my already bruised ribs. I heard something crack and pain radiated through my body. Mother took a seat at the table and simply watched me as father pulled the belt from his pants and then proceeded to whip me. One time, two times, three times… After nearly 50 hits by the belt he finally stopped. I was close to lose conciseness but then I heard it. Someone was knocking on the door. Neither of my parents moved but I fought with renewed strength to escape from the gag. Mother and father were so concentrated on the door that they didn´t notice when I finally was able to spit out the hateful gag and scream for help. If they didn´t help me I was sure I was going to die.

"Help! Please help me!" I screamed and all the pain and desperation I felt laced my voice. Father turned around and gave me a swift kick to the head to silence me, but he was too late. A loud noise told me that the door had been kicked in and from the looks of it, my parents realized that to. Father grabbed mother and tried to make a run for it but they didn't get far. I heard a crash from the hall, my mother's scream and then silence. Until…

"Sakura?" It took a huge amount of willpower for me to be able to lift my head but I did it. I was dazed from the kick to my head and had trouble focusing but I immediately recognized the person standing in the doorway.

"Sasori…" I whispered and then I lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter Two**

As I slowly regained consciousness I became aware of a lot of voices around me that I didn´t recognized. I opened my eyes and quickly realized two things. One, I was in a bedroom I´ve never seen before and two, I was surrounded by strangers. I panicked. I screamed and tried to get away from them, curling up against the headboard of the bed I was on. Suddenly the door flew open and an angry voice yelled.

"Get out of here! Can´t you see that you´re scaring her!?" The strangers left the room and only the person that had yelled at them was left. It was Sasori. He stood tall and proud but his gaze was filled with worry and regret. He had become quite muscular but his wild, blood red hair was the same, as well as his warm brown eyes. He was dressed in all black, black boots, black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. "Sasori…" My voice broke but he heard me and slowly walked up to the bed and sat beside me. "I´m here now Sakura, sorry it took so long." I felt tears slowly fill up my eyes and I tried my best to fight them back. But I lost and the tears fell from my eyes. Sasori pulled me in for a hug but was careful of my injuries and I allowed myself to cling to him and let the tears fall freely. When my tears finally dried, I was exhausted and in pain and Sasori noticed. "Will you let me take care of your injuries? I will need help from Konan and Kakuzu though…" He asked me and I thought long and hard before answering him. "Will they hurt me?" I asked, not realizing just how much my parents had damaged me. His eyes widened and he said. "Of course not, they are my friends Sakura, no one here will hurt you." "Promise?" "I promise." I nodded then and he went to the door and asked for this Konan and Kakuzu. Then he came back to sit next to me on the bed. The first one through the door was Konan, she had pale skin, blue hair, copper eyes and a lip piercing. She gave me a little smile and said. "Don't worry sweetie, were going to take good care of you." Then Kakuzu came through the door and I eyed him suspiciously. He was really tall, taller than Sasori, and he was tanned. He had a mask that covered the lower half of his face and his eyes were a startling red and green. He didn´t say anything to me but his eyes told me that he wasn´t going to hurt me. Sasori turned to me and said. "Now you need to tell us about your injuries." I nodded but lowered my head before I told them. "I´m bruised all over, I may have a concussion, I believe my left ribs are broken, there are half healed cuts on my legs and abdomen, my hands are badly burned and I have several open wounds on my back." I didn´t tell them that the wounds on my back came from being whipped, they were going to find that out soon enough anyway. "There might be more but I´m not sure…" I added when nobody said anything. I didn´t realize that they were shocked to hear about my injuries so when Konan swiped away a tear I didn´t understand why. "Why are you crying?" I asked her. "I cry because nobody should have to go through what you have been through, and because you're so brave." I didn´t understand this, I wasn´t brave at all and Sasori had been through the same hell as I. I told her this but this time it was Sasori that answered me. "I didn´t go through the same thing, sure they beat me but nothing else, Konan is right Sakura you really are brave." How could they say that I was brave? I was scared of meeting new people because I thought they were going to hurt me. I was scared of sleeping because I wasn´t sure that I'd wake up. "How am I brave? I don't understand…" "You are brave because you continue to live and because you fight for your right to be alive." The answer didn´t come from Sasori or Konan as I would have thought, it came from Kakuzu. I met his gaze and suddenly I got the feeling that he knew what I'd been through, he must´ve experienced something similar to be able to give me that answer. I didn´t say anything but I saw in his eyes that he knew what went through my mind just a moment ago. I saw his lips turn up just a little bit under the mask and I gave him a small, shy smile back. But soon they all got to work on my injuries starting with my aching hands. As soon as Konan took off the bandages I´d put on, she and Sasori winced and Kakuzu gave me a worried frown. "My god, how did this happen?" Konan asked me, concern clearly visible in her eyes. "Hot coffee twice in two weeks." I answered her and bit back a whimper as she put on some cold cream. Next they asked to take a look at my ribs and I hesitated before I pulled of my shirt using only my right hand, after all I wore a bra underneath. I gave my bloody, dirty shirt to Sasori but kept my eyes trained on the floor. I was embarrassed and self-conscious about my mistreated body and to realize almost my entire left side was just as one single bruise didn´t make me feel better. After much painful prodding and poking from both Konan and Kakuzu they told me that I had four broken ribs and that it needed to be bandaged as well. I knew they were going to ask to see my back next so I turned around and let them see it. Silence filled the room but I could feel the gazes from all three of them on my back. "I don´t know how to treat this, should we leave it as it is or should we bandage her whole back?" Konan asked. "I think it will hurt less if we bandage it, besides we have to bandage her ribs anyway." Kakuzu answered. When they started bandaging me it hurt like hell so to keep myself from letting them know I bit my lip until I tasted blood. When they finally finished I couldn´t keep the blackness away any longer and let myself once again fall into unconsciousness.

I woke to the feeling of somebody next to me in bed and felt the panic rise before I realized that it was only Sasori. "Sasori?" I whispered. "I´m here, how are you feeling?" "I´m better but I still feel like shit." I answered truthfully. "I imagine you do." Was his only reply and felt something similar to worry take a grip on my stomach. "What´s going to happen with me now?" I asked him. "You stay here with us of course, I´m not letting you go back to that hell." I wasn´t worried about our parents, they would most likely move again and then probably kill each other. No I was worried of two completely different people… Orochimaru and Sasuke. The former wanted to recruit me to his gang and the latter wanted to use me as his slave. But Sasori didn´t know anything of this yet. "I´m not worried about our parents, I´m worried about Orochimaru and Sasuke…" I admitted while hiding my face against his chest. "Why are you worried about them?" Asked he with muscles tensing up at hearing their names. "Orochimaru signed a contract with our parents saying that I´m to be his gang's property more or less…" I didn´t like to have to tell him this but he needed to know it, I was really terrified of Orochimaru. "As for Sasuke, he wants me as his personal slave, I believe that's the reason for Orochimaru signing the contract with our parents." I explained, still hiding from view against his chest. "That sonovabitch! I´m going to kill him!" Sasoris sudden outburst scared me and I quickly pulled away from him. Sasori quickly realized his mistake and lowered his voice. "I´m sorry Sakura, please don't be afraid of me." My heart almost broke at hearing him beg me and I slowly made my way back, placing my head on top of his chest once again. "I didn´t mean to scare you, but I know of their gang and I´m not letting you near them." I felt reassured by his words and decided that I would try to forget about those two creeps, at least for now. Instead I asked him what he had done since he left so many years ago. "Well as you remember I was only sixteen so at first I just drifted around, then when I was old enough I joined the navy where I met most of the gang." He explained to me. "When I got out of the navy I started searching for you but I couldn't find you, you had moved away." At least I was right about him not coming for me because he couldn´t find me, I thought to myself as he continued his story. "I kept in contact with my team from the navy and soon we became the gang Akatsuki." "You're with the Akatsuki?" I asked him with a shocked expression on my face. "Yeah, why are you so shocked?" He gave me a look and I quickly answered him. "Why would they want anything to do with me? The Akatsuki are powerful and skilled, I´d just be a bother to them…" Sasori gave me a long, hard look before he said. "You are not a bother. Don´t forget that I´m too are a part of Akatsuki, besides when the other guys get to know you, I just know that their going to love you just as I do." I gave him a small smile and asked him. "Maybe you´re right… But I don't know them, it´s embarrassing but I´m actually scared of them…" I admitted with lowered eyes. At first I thought he wasn´t going to say anything but then he did. "I didn´t know they damaged you so badly… You are afraid that the others will hurt you are you not?" I nodded and he continued. "I can tell you that they won´t hurt you but I know that only time can make you believe me, but I want you to remember that I wouldn´t let you meet these people if they were a threat to you." "I know, if you didn´t care about me you wouldn´t have come back for me, but I don't know how I will be able to meet these people, they are so many…" He seemed to think about the problem before he asked me. "Are you still afraid of Konan and Kakuzu?" I thought about it and discovered much to my surprise that I wasn´t afraid of them, perhaps it was the medic in them that calmed me? "No I´m not afraid of them…" "Well then you only have seven left to meet." He told me happily. "Only seven?" "Yeah, Pein the leader, Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, Deidara, Tobi and Zetzu." "Konan is the only woman?" "Yes." "Poor her… Well at least she and I can gang up on you guys." I added with a smile. He returned my smile and looked as if he was going to say something more but he got interrupted by a growling from my stomach. "You hungry?" He asked me with a smile and I nodded. "Yeah, it has been a couple of days since I ate something…" Sasori paled at this and started walking towards the door, but then he stopped and turned towards me. "You know you have to talk about what our parents did to you, if not with me then with someone else." I nodded. "I know, but I can´t do that yet..." He nodded, gave me a smile and disappeared out through the door. I took a good look at the room, it was quite beautiful. It had a light brown wooden floor with a big fluffy blue-green rug on. The walls were the same calming blue-green as the rug and a door to my left indicated that there was a private bathroom. There were two big windows with white curtains and beautiful flowers on the windowsills. The bed was a queen size and had light pink sheets and a white comforter. There was also a desk with a laptop on, a dresser and a wardrobe, both of them filled with some basic clothes, not much but it would be enough for a couple of days. There was also a bookshelf, half-filled with various books. A big mirror hung over the dresser where I also found a hairbrush and some scented candles. I took a peek in the bathroom and found out that there was a door opposite of mine, which meant I was sharing with someone. The bathroom had black marble floor and white tiles on the walls. There was a big shower and an even bigger bathtub. One wall was shelves filled with fluffy black towels in different sizes and over the double sink was a huge mirror. Just as I closed the door and made my way back to the bed there was a knock on the other door and Sasori came back with a big platter of food. But he didn´t come alone, he was in company of Konan and an orange-haired guy with a lot of facial piercings and purple-grey eyes.

I felt myself go stiff and didn´t dare take my eyes off this new person. I saw that he noticed my reaction and he stopped a few feet away from me while Sasori put down the platter of food. "Sakura this is Pein, the leader of Akatsuki." I took a deep breath and then hesitated before I met his gaze. "Hi." He gave me a small smile and by the chocked reaction from Konan and Sasori this was not something that happened very often. His strange eyes didn´t leave my face for a second and just as I started to feel nervous about it, he said. "It will be alright." I felt a wave of relief surge through me and despite the weird looks from Konan and Sasori I gave Pein a small, hesitant hug before replying. "Thank you." Then I turned my focus on the food that was waiting for me and as I ate, the other three discussed different plans to move forward from this situation. After my meal Konan turned to me and said. "I need to take another look at your back." I sighed but turned once again around on the bed and pulled of my shirt. I heard Pein gasp as he got a good look at my destroyed back, I knew it would scar and silently wondered just how bad it would look. Just as Konan finished her examination and was about to start rewrapping my back, there was a quick knock on the door before it opened to let whoever was behind get a clear look of my bared back. I tensed up and almost panicky shot a look over my shoulder at the person in the doorway. The first though that hit me was that this guy is HOT! He was pretty tall and thanks to him not wearing a shirt I got a good look at his rippling muscles. He had silvery, slicked back hair that reached the nape of his neck and beautiful looking violet eyes. He had some scars as far as I could tell but none as severe as mine, he also wore a silver pendant around his neck. He was panting and it was first now that I saw the almost panicked look on his face. "Deidara came back, he´s hurt." He told them, his voice dark and a little raspy. Both Pein and Sasori were on their feet and out of the room before I could blink. Konan quickly turned to me and said. "I need to help them, will you let Hidan rewrap your back?" I nodded to her and said. "I´ll be fine." She gave me a quick smile and rushed out of the room, only stopping to give this Hidan guy instructions. As soon as she was out of the door Hidan gave me a curious look and said. "You´re Sasoris baby sister Sakura, right?" I nodded and lowered my gaze as a blush made its way up on my cheeks. It felt as if his eyes could see right through me to my soul. He noticed this and sat beside me on the bed before asking. "Are you afraid of me?" I thought for a while before answering him. "No, I don´t think so… At least I´m trying not to be." He stared at me for a moment before giving me a small smile, he knew I put trust in him, and started to rewrap my back. "How did you get these?" He asked, his fingers lightly touching one of the still open wounds. "My father whipped me with his belt." I told him with an emotionless voice, I was not prepared for his reaction. "What!? Fucking shithead! I´m going to fucking kill him!" I was startled by the string of cuss words that came from his mouth and by the dark, threatening aura that suddenly surrounded him. I panicked and franticly tried to get out of his reach. I hardly noticed when I reached the end of the bed and fell on the floor. I didn't stop until I was pressed tightly against the wall, gasping as I tried to draw a breath into my lungs. Hidan quickly kneeled beside me but as I only panicked more he gave up on that plan and instead rushed toward the door. "Kakuzu!" he yelled and in only seconds the tall tanned man showed up. He took one look at me and then showed Hidan out the door, telling him something I couldn´t hear. He then quickly kneeled in front of me saying. "Sakura, can you tell me what is wrong?" I tried to slow my breathing, only to find out that I couldn´t. "I don't… know,… I can´t… breath." He seemed to know what was wrong, even if I didn´t, and without hesitation he moved me so that he sat on the floor behind me and pulled me tightly against his chest, my back against his front. "Try to take deep and slow breaths." He instructed me and then carefully placed his hand over my eyes, the other hand holding a lose grip around my waist. The warm darkness provided by his hand soon made my breathing slow down and I was able to think again. I leaned back into Kakuzu and sighed, what had I done to poor Hidan? "What are you so worried about?" asked Kakuzu. "How do you know I'm worried?" I replied. "Your muscles are so tense it must hurt, is it about Hidan?" I slowly nodded, shame heating up my face as I said. "He must think he did something wrong…" "He did." Was Kakuzus emotionless answer. "But he couldn´t know he was going to scare me… I don't want to be scared of him or of anyone of you guys for that matter…" I whispered, a tear rolling down my cheek. "I know you don´t…" He answered, wiping off the tear with his thumb. "How about I go talk to him and tell him what to do if it happens again, he is after all quite short-tempered." "I´d like that, thank you Kakuzu, but please don't scare my brother with this? He has enough problems with me as it is…" I stood up and then reached out a hand to Kakuzu who took it with a slight thoughtful expression before he said. "He doesn´t think of you as a problem you know, but I promise not to scare him even if I have to tell him." "Fine." I pouted but Kakuzu just chuckled and told me. "Go take a shower Sakura, I´ll tell Hidan to come back here soon to help you rewrap your injuries." I nodded, I suspected he was afraid that I'd get scared of Hidan if he didn´t come back soon enough and I also suspected he might be right. I took a quick shower then dressed in some comfortable underwear and a pair of grey sweatpants that I´d found in the dresser. I didn´t bother with a shirt as I still needed the wounds to be rewrapped. When I exited the bathroom I found Hidan back in my room, he was standing by the door looking like he´d rather be somewhere else. But I didn´t know if it was because I made him uncomfortable or if it was because something else. But judging by his reaction earlier and Kakuzus words he was not normally the gentle and caring man he appeared to be in front of me. I knew that right know I could only handle gentle but at the same time I was curious of him, I wanted to know how he really was. As I was lost in thoughts he slowly got closer to me until he stood only a few feet away, watching me carefully. He gave me a look as if he intended to say something but then changed his mind. "I´m sorry for what happened before." I blurted out before I got the time to rethink it. He just looked at me with his mouth slightly ajar before collecting himself and answering me. "There´s no need for you to be sorry, you can´t help it if you´re having an anxiety-attack." He took a quick look at my eyes before continuing. "If anything I´m the one that should be sorry, Sasori told all of us that we had to be careful around you because of the trauma. If only he would tell us what the trauma was…" The last part he muttered under his breath as if I wasn´t meant to hear it. But I did and I replied without thinking. "He didn´t tell you guys that our parents abused first him, and then after he moved they continued their torture on me?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter Three**

I sat next to Hidan on my bed, he had rewrapped my wounds and now we were simply talking. "So you mean that nobody in the Akatsuki know what happened to Sasori or to me?" I was really chocked that my brother hadn´t told anyone, how could he have the nerve to tell me that I had to talk about what had happened when he himself had done the exact opposite?

"Yeah, he only said that you were his baby sister and that you´d had a traumatic experience and that you needed help and shelter." I was fuming with anger but it quickly went away again, I just couldn´t be angry with my brother for this. Instead I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment before asking Hidan. "Will you tell the others that I'm here because my parents abused me? They don´t need to know exactly what happened but I want them to know that at least."

Hidans violet eyes searched mine for any sign that I didn't want this but when he didn´t find any he slowly nodded and said. "As you wish." "Thanks…" I told him and gently put my head on his shoulder. At first he tensed up, apparently nervous, but he soon relaxed when I didn´t show any signs of distress. "What was it that triggered your anxiety-attack before?" he asked me softly after a couple of minutes. I wasn´t far from falling asleep so I answered him without actually opening my eyes. "It was the sudden outburst with the cussing and the anger, for a moment I thought it was my father even if I at the same time knew it wasn´t."

Hidan remained silent and I opened my eyes to meet his gaze. "I know that this gentle and caring way to be isn´t who you normally are, and I want to know the regular Hidan as well, but right now I can´t handle it…" I told him and lowered my eyes. I hoped that I had not scared him away with my confession that I knew he wasn´t his regular self. He gently lifted my head so that he could see my eyes and then gave me a small smile. "I actually don´t mind this, at least not when we are alone, the only hard thing is to remember to hold back the cussing." I returned his smile and put my head back on his shoulder, he radiated warmth and soon sleep overtook me.

When I woke up the sun was shining in through my windows and a look at the watch on my bedside table told me that it was only eight in the morning. But I was no longer tired and got up from bed in search of clothes, I was still wearing the same clothes as last night and I was still without a shirt. I found a pair of dark jeans in the wardrobe that I pulled on. The search for a shirt was more difficult since all the shirts in my room were too tight for me to get them on with my broken ribs.

So I made my way through the bathroom to knock on the door to the room that I last night found out was occupied by no other than Hidan. I heard a muffled "come in" and slowly opened the door. His room was the same size as mine but had different colors. His floor were dark wood with a black rug on it, his furniture were the same dark wood as mine. His walls were a deep, midnight blue and his bed had black satin sheets. I froze in the spot when my eyes found him, he was still in bed and the satin sheets pooled around his hips as he sat up, effectively showing off the rippling muscles in his upper body. He smirked when he saw me staring and I could see that he wanted to make a dirty remark on it but he held himself back, instead asking me. "Sakura, is everything alright?"

He couldn´t erase the smirk though, and I found myself blushing as I said. "I was just wondering if I could borrow a shirt from you? The ones in my room are all too tight…" He nodded and then jumped out of bed before I had a chance to stop him. Thank Kami he wore a pair of black boxers at least. "That's right, you wouldn´t be able to put on your shirts because of your ribs, I didn´t think of that." He admitted before pulling out a simple black t-shirt with a picture of the reaper on the back and handing it to me. "Will this one do?" He asked me. I just nodded then quickly pulled the shirt over my head. It was so big that it reached me to the middle of my thighs, but he was much taller than me after all.

Suddenly I heard Sasoris voice from my room so with a quick "Thank you!" to Hidan I returned to my own room. Sasori had brought me breakfast and I closed my bathroom door silently behind me, I needed to have a little talk with my brother. As soon as I had finished eating I focused my eyes on Sasori and said. "Why didn´t you tell anyone why I´m here?" I saw him flinch but he answered me. "I didn´t think it was their business." I glared at him. "Well I told Hidan last night that he could tell everyone that I´m here because our parents abused me." Sasori nodded. "If that's what you want then it´s up to you." He answered calmly. "That's when I found out that you hadn´t told anyone besides Pein, Konan and Kakuzu that the same thing happened to you."

Sasori went completely silent and gave me a glance in which I could see something reminding me of fear. He grabbed my upper arms and asked me desperately. "Please tell me Hidans not telling them that the same thing happened to me!" I was shocked by his reaction and quickly calmed him. "No he´s only telling about me, I told him to keep your part a secret." He seemed to relax hearing that but he kept his eyes away from mine as I tried to find out more. "But why haven´t you told anyone?" I asked him and he seemed to deflate a little before gathering courage and lifted his head to look at me. "That is none of your business Sakura." Then he left. To say I was shocked didn´t even begin to cover it. I was still standing exactly as he left me ten minutes later when Konan knocked on my door.

"Morning Sakura, did something happen?" She asked as she saw my shocked face. "No, nothing important, just something with Sasori…" I answered her. "Good, did it go well last night? I heard from Kakuzu that you got a panic-attack." I nodded. "Yeah, after that it went fine." Konan smiled at me and said. "It must have since you´re wearing Hidans shirt." She giggled and I tried to explain why I was wearing his shirt. "Well, all the shirts in this room were too small to put on because of my ribs…" Thankfully she quickly realized what I was talking about and said. "Yeah, the ribs must hurt I imagine, how about you and I go shopping when you´re feeling better?" I felt myself smile, I hadn´t gone shopping for ages. "I´d love to." I answered her.

"But I really came her to ask if you mind sitting with Deidara for a little while? All the others are out and I need to go get some more medical supplies. It would only be for an hour or so…" I suddenly felt afraid, did she expect me to be able to take care of an injured person? "He isn´t badly hurt but I don´t want him up and walking just yet, if you were to sit with him he would probably stay in bed as he would have someone to talk to." I couldn´t make myself say no to her when she put it like that so I agreed to go sit with this Deidara guy.

On the way over there I asked her where everyone else was, they must have left unplanned since Sasori and Hidan didn´t seem to be in a hurry when I met them. "Oh, most of them is just grocery shopping but I believe that Sasori and Hidan were going to your old house, even if I don´t know why…" She told me before stopping in front of a simple white door. "What do I do if I get another anxiety-attack?" I asked her, suddenly nervous. "I don´t think that will happen while you´re with Deidara, he´s Sasoris best friend." I felt myself relax again, even if I was still worried. But Konan had opened the door and disappeared inside, I could already hear her voice telling Deidara to behave himself.

I followed her voice into the room and let my eyes scan the new surroundings. The room went in different blue shades but my gaze quickly locked on the person in the bed. I knew it was a man but the long blonde hair momentarily confused me. He had sky-blue eyes and a lithe yet muscular body. He had at the moment bandages wrapped around his arms and hands as well as his neck and part of his face. "Sakura meet Deidara, Deidara meet Sakura." Konan said and then with the blink of an eye, she was gone, leaving us all alone. "Um… Hi?" I felt slightly embarrassed but he didn´t seem to notice. "Hi, un." He then momentarily closed his eyes before opening them again and focusing on me. I could see pain in his eyes as well as some curiosity. "You do actually look like Sasori, got the same eyes, just different colors, un." I smiled. "Well I'm going to take that as a compliment, how are you feeling?" I asked him as he clenched his teeth.

"Like I´ve been blown across a street, un." I just stared at him, he must be kidding. He saw my expression and gave a small chuckle. "Didn´t Sasori tell you most of us met in the navy, un?" I nodded. "Well I was in the bomb squad, last night a job went wrong and the bomb detonated early." He slowly raised his arms for me to see then just as carefully laid them back down. "As you can see, I was to close when it happened, un." I gave him a smile of sympathy and showed him that I too was wrapped in bandages. "I know what you mean." I saw his eyes widen slightly before he asked the expected question. "What happened to you, un?" I gave him a sad smile before telling him my story.

"I´m sorry for you, un." He let one of his bandaged hands slip into one of mine and gave me a gentle squeeze. "Thank you." I whispered. "But I'm worried about Sasori he…" I stopped myself, realizing that I almost told Sasoris secret. "What about Sasori?" asked Deidara warily. "I promised not to tell… But if I do tell you, you have to promise not to tell a soul." He nodded. "I promise Sakura, Sasori is my best friend, perhaps I can help him in some way, un." I gently pushed some hair out of his face and said. "Sasori left because our parents were beating him, they didn´t torture him like they did to me but what´s worrying me is that he hasn´t told anybody of this. He´s locking it all up inside himself." We fell into silence before it was broken by some of the guys coming home, they were making a lot of noise. I gave Deidara a quick glance and saw that he was frowning. "What is it?" I asked him. "I wished we could have had more time alone, I got a feeling that we have more to talk about, un." I nodded. "I agree, maybe I can come back later tonight?" He smiled and nodded eagerly. "I would like that, un." Shortly thereafter came a knock on the door and Kakuzu entered the room. "Got a new friend Deidara?" He asked him with a smile hidden under that mask of his. "I sure did, un." Deidara answered as my face got a dark shade of pink and I escaped from the room, hearing both Deidara and Kakuzu chuckle.

I tried to find my way back to my room but since nobody has giving me a tour of the place yet, it didn´t take long for me to become totally lost. This place was really huge. I sighed and decided to simply wait for someone to find me, I sat down on the floor in a hallway with four doors and waited. I didn´t have to wait long before one of the doors in the hallway opened and the biggest man I have ever seen entered the hallway. He was so tall he almost had to bend his head to be able to exit from what I assumed was his room into the hallway without hitting his head. His shoulders were as wide as the doorway and dear Kami he was ripped. His bulky muscles at first distracted me from the fact that his skin was a strange blue-greyish. His hair was also blue but a darker shade, and his eyes were a dark golden. I wasn´t sure if I wanted him to see me or not.

But he did and he seemed surprised to do that. He kneeled in front of me and said. "What are you doing here Kitten?" His voice was a dark rumble and I still hadn´t made up my mind if I was going to be afraid of him or not. "You´re Sasoris baby sister are you not, Kitten?" I nodded and quickly decided that this huge guy probably had a huge heart as well. "Yes I am, I´m kind of lost…" "Has nobody given you a tour of the house yet?" He asked me and I shook my head no. "Well we´ll have to do something about that won't we." He stood up and gently pulled me with him, careful of my injuries. When standing, I didn´t even reached his shoulder. He kept his hold of my hand and started pointing out everyone's bedrooms, the hallway we were in contained the bedrooms of Kisame, Itachi, Zetzu and Tobi. Then he showed me the corridor containing my bedroom, as well as Hidans and Kakuzus. At last he showed me the corridor with Deidaras, Sasoris and Pein and Konans bedrooms. Then he proceeded to show me the laundry room, the library, the office, the game room, the living room, the dining room, the gym, the indoor pool, the garden and at last we ended up in the kitchen. I found out that his name was Kisame and I realized that I didn´t mind being close to him. It felt safe, he felt safe. Even though my head didn´t even reach his shoulder. "You hungry Kitten?" He asked me and I nodded and gave him a smile. He opened the fridge and asked me. "How about some chicken teriyaki?" I just stared at him, shocked. "You can make chicken teriyaki?" I asked, wonder clearly visible in my voice. "Yes, do you like it?" He gave me a quick glance over his shoulder. "I love chicken teriyaki." I told him and stood beside him to see if I could help. But he just chuckled at me and lifted me up on the counter next to him. I was amazed that he managed to do that without hurting my broken ribs. I found out that Kisame was very fun to be around and we were both laughing when another unknown male entered the kitchen.

Kisame noticed when I tensed up and turned around to see who had entered. "Itachi, want some chicken?" He asked him but Itachi didn´t seemed to have heard him. He only kept looking at me. I was frozen in the spot, Itachi looked so much like Sasuke only his eyes were a dark red and Sasukes was charcoal black. Itachi had the same raven hair as Sasuke, only his was long and in a low ponytail instead of in a crazy chicken butt style. They both had the same pale skin, taller than average and decent muscles. Itachi scared the hell out of me and he didn´t even know it. Kisame looked at me and noticed that I had gone really pale and that I was having trouble breathing. "Kitten what´s wrong?" He asked me and when he did Itachi stepped even closer to us, increasing my panic. Thankfully that´s when Hidan showed up.

"What´s going on shitheads?" He asked Kisame and Itachi before he saw me. But when he did he immediately realized what was happening and without a word as explanation he picked me up and hurried to his room since his was closer than mine. He then sat on the floor, pulled my back flush against his chest and put his large, warm hand over my eyes. "It´s okay Sakura, just take slow, deep breaths." He told me and after a little while my breathing slowed enough to be in sync with his. I felt really safe wrapped in his arms like this, but that only made the feeling of shame worse. I wondered what Kisame and Itachi thought of me now. They didn´t know why Itachi scared me so, he hadn´t even said anything, only Sasori knew and I thought that he had told Pein and Konan. Not even Hidan knew. A sob escaped from my lips and I wasn´t capable of containing my tears any longer. I turned around in Hidans lap so that I was facing him instead and said. "I don´t want it to be like this anymore, I don´t want to be scared, I want to be free…" Then I hid my face against his chest and cried.

Hidan stroke my back as I cried but didn´t say anything before my tears finally stopped. "Things will get better, I promise, things are just new to you still." Then a comfortable silence followed before he asked me. "But was it really Itachi that scared you so bad? I mean he is an emotionless bastard but he´s not going to hurt you." I realized that I had to tell them of Sasuke and Orochimaru, even though I didn´t want to… "I´ll explain what scared me, but can you get Kisame and Itachi to?" Hidan looked at me long and hard before nodding. "I´ll go get them, want me to bring something to you?" I thought for a second before answering him. "Could you perhaps get Deidara and Kakuzu too? And a bottle of water, please?" When the door closed behind him I took a seat on his bed instead. His black satin sheets were surprisingly soft, they were smooth and cool to the touch. As Hidan reentered the room with all the others I clutched one of his pillows against my chest. Hidan sat beside me on the bed, Kisame sat on the floor, Itachi sat on the desk chair and Deidara got helped to the bed by Kakuzu who then proceeded to lean on the wall. Hidan leaned back against the headboard and I leaned back against Hidan before I started talking.

"I´m only going to tell you this one time, so you need to tell the other two, Tobi and Zetzu, later." I told them and everybody nodded. "I panicked in the kitchen because Itachi looks so much like this guy Sasuke, who wants me to be his slave in every meaning of the word. He´s a member of Orochimarus gang and Orochimaru himself made a contract with my parents. The contract says that I'm to be a member of his gang as well, whether I want it or not. I believe he made the contract with my parents to please Sasuke. I don´t want to know what would happen to me if they ever succeeded in capturing me…" Everything was completely silent before Itachi decided to speak. "First I wish to tell you that I don't blame you for what happened in the kitchen, I also wish to tell you that Sasuke is my little brother, that's why we´re so alike. But I also want you to know that I never will let my brother or anyone else hurt you. I believe you have been hurt enough for this lifetime." I saw in his eyes that he truly meant what he said and when all the others agreed with him, I suddenly realized that I no longer was afraid that the Akatsuki would hurt me.

Later that evening when Konan and I were cooking dinner for the boys I met the two last members. "KONAN-CHAN WHO IS THE PRETTY PINK HAIRED LADY?!" I jumped and almost dropped the salad I was carrying to the table when the loud voice echoed through the kitchen. I quickly spun around only to be tackled in a fierce hug by an unknown male. He was tall, but not as tall as Kisame or Kakuzu. He had black unruly hair and an orange mask that covered his entire face and only had a hole for his right eye. He wore black baggy clothes but I could feel that he had quite impressive muscles underneath. "TOBI! Put Sakura down, she is Sasoris baby sister." Explained Konan and thankfully Tobi let go of me, I was starting to have trouble breathing. I took a few steps back nervously before Tobi once again exclaimed. "TOBI THINKS SAKURA-CHAN IS PRETTY!" I flinched at his loud voice and suddenly Kisames voice also boomed through the kitchen. "Tobi lower your voice for Kami's sake, can´t you see your scaring her?" His words made Tobi take a good look on me before he said. "Tobi is sorry Tobi scared Sakura-chan. Tobi will be a good boy from now on!" He then skipped out of the room, leaving me wondering what the hell just happened. "Don´t worry about him Kitten, Tobi is just a little special." Kisame told me before he helped setting the table. When Konan called that dinner was ready I met the last Akatsuki member, Zetzu. He was not as tall as the others, but he was well built and had beautiful golden eyes. His hair was a dark green but the most eye-catching was that one half of his body was albino white while the other half was a dark tanned. He sat next to me at the table and it didn´t take long before we were discussing the best way to care for roses. Apparently Zetzu had a green thumb and was the one that took care of the beautiful garden outside.

When Itachi and Kisame were taking care of the dishes and most of the others were in the living room discussing witch movie to watch, I snuck away to Deidaras room.

I carefully cracked his door opened and peered in. "Deidara, are you awake?" I asked and immediately I got a response. "Yeah come on in Blossom." I swiftly entered and closed the door behind me, Deidara was once again in his bed and I hesitantly sat down beside him. I didn´t know what to say and I felt slightly uncomfortable. "You look so serious, un. Relax." He told me and leaned back against the pillows. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked him after a few minutes of silence. "I wanted to ask you what your parents did to Sasori exactly. Perhaps we can figure out why he hasn´t told anybody but Pein, Konan and Kakuzu." I thought about his question for a while before answering him. "I don´t remember much of my childhood but I remember that they used to hit him if he did something against their will. But no matter what we did there was always something that was against their will. If he didn´t score full points on his tests he got beaten. And if he wasn´t home on time. And if I…" I stopped myself, remembering that he took the beatings if I did something wrong. He was protecting me. "What´s wrong, un?" I didn´t answer him. I was ashamed. "Blossom?" He was starting to sound worried so I swallowed once and said. "It´s my fault…" Deidara just stared at me. "How can it be your fault, un? You weren´t the one who hit him." I didn't dare to look at him as I answered. "He took the beatings for me when I had done something to anger our parents…" "So? It only means he was protecting you, un." "But…" "No buts, un. I can promise you that it isn´t because of that Blossom. I would also have protected you if I had been in Sasoris situation. You´re a couple years younger are you not, un?" It did sound kind of logical when he said it that way, I had to admit that. "Yeah I´m six years younger than him, he is 23 and I´m 17." I told him. His eyes widened and he said. "You´re only 17, un?" I nodded. "Well then you are the youngest of us that's for sure…" "Really? You guys don´t look that much older..." "Kisame and Kakuzu are 28. Pein, Konan and Zetzu are 26. Itachi are 25. Hidan and Tobi are 24 and I am also 23." "Oh…" Suddenly the door flew open and Konan rushed in. "Deidara have you seen… Sakura?" She looked like she didn´t believe her eyes at first but then a smile stretched across her face. "Come on Sakura, Sasori and Hidan are just about to tear apart the whole house looking for you." She started dragging me away and I heard Deidara chuckle behind me. "See you around Blossom."

When Sasori and Hidan saw me behind Konan, they immediately calmed down. "Don´t disappear on me like that Saku." Sasori told me, half joking, half serious. All of them followed me back to my room but they soon said good night and left me alone.

When I was tucked into bed a thought hit me. Maybe the Akatsuki would be like the family I didn´t have when growing up. Maybe I could finally find happiness.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Feel free to tell me if there is an filler event you want to happen in this story, I can´t promise I´ll use your ideas but I want to be a better writer so please tell me if you think there is something I can do better.

Thanks for the reviews! Love Catten90

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter four**

The following week was spent on getting to know all of the guys better and to simply heal from my injuries. I woke up excited; Konan was finally taking me shopping.

I quickly dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a simple white tank and a black hoodie from Ed Hardy. I also put on my black combat boots. Then I ventured to the kitchen to make some breakfast. In the kitchen I found Tobi who was making something that looked like pancake batter. "Morning Tobi" "Good Morning Sakura-chan, do Sakura-chan want pancakes? Tobi makes good pancakes because Tobi is a good boy!" "I´d love some Tobi" I said with a smile and sat at the table. It didn´t take long for Tobi to make the pancakes and soon he put a plate filled with syrup coated pancakes in front of me.

Soon the rest of the gang showed up, all of them jealous of mine and Tobi's breakfast. Konan downed a cup of coffee before asking me. "Are you ready to go Sakura?" I nodded and stood up but before we got out of the kitchen Hidan spoke up. "Where the fuck are you two going?" Konan turned around and answered him with a big smile. "We´re going shopping, want to come?" I could almost see him pale on the spot while slowly backing away. "No thanks bitch, got to keep these shitheads under control." Me and Konan just giggled as I followed her out to the huge garage.

The garage had to be huge as everybody had their own vehicle, some even had two. She led me to a dark blue Camaro that had grey leather seats. When she pulled out of the garage I had to ask her. "What does everybody do since you guys got so much money?" She turned up on the highway before answering me. "Well myself and Pein are running a small business with the help of Kakuzu, Kisame is a professional wrestler, Itachi, Sasori and Deidara does some jobs for the navy, Hidan works as a bouncer at a club sometimes, Zetzu works as a gardener and Tobi… well Tobi doesn´t really do something. But without Kakuzu keeping an eye on our economy and investing it wisely we wouldn´t be where we are today." I pondered this for a while. "What kind of business do you have?" She gave me a smile and said. "We got a tattoo and piercing studio who also sells my paintings. Kakuzu does the tattoos and Pein does the piercings." My eyes widened and got a little bit glossy. "Do you think I can get a piercing or a tattoo?" She gave me a quick glance before answering. "I don´t see why not, a piercing we can do today if you want but a tattoo you have to have Sasoris permission to since you´re not 18 yet." "Let me think about it then, I really need clothes first and foremost." I told her.

When we parked outside the mall I was almost bouncing in the car, I hadn´t gone shopping like this for years so I was really excited.

When we took a break for food at three in the afternoon I was sure I had all the clothes, shoes and other things I could possibly need and we had spent an incredible amount of money. We had ordered a large pizza and was trying to decide if we were going to shop some more or if we were going home or getting me a piercing.

Suddenly I froze. On the other side of the restaurant stood no other then Sasuke himself, in the company of some other gang members. Karin was there, a redhead with red eyes and glasses, she did not have a nice personality. He was also in the company of Suigetsu, a white haired boy with no brain and more muscles than you would think. There was also Jugo, a tall, broad guy with orange hair and eyes. Konan followed my gaze and then said to me. "Just take it easy Sakura, slow breaths. They can´t do anything to you here."

I nodded and tried to relax again but inevitably tensed up as I saw Sasuke making his way over to us. "Sakura, I heard your parents left town. Guess that means you belong to me and Orochimarus gang now." I could barely breathe and had no chance at all to answer him. Thankfully Konan didn´t have the same problem as I did. "She does not belong to you, she belongs with her brother Sasori and with us." He gave me a look that made my stomach tighten painfully and my breathing to become even harder. "You cannot seriously be thinking about staying with these disgusting Akatsuki, you know you are mine."

There was a barely hidden threat in his voice but this time I knew I had to answer him myself. "I will stay with the Akatsuki and my brother, I´m not yours and I will never be that either, so leave me alone." I spat at him and I saw that my words angered him. "We´ll see about that." And with those words, he finally left and I allowed myself to break down. My airways constricted and tears fell freely, I was panicking and I couldn´t breathe. I wanted to be home and safe, not unprotected in a restaurant.

"Konan!" I gasped as the panic increased. "It´s okay Sakura, try to take slow, deep breaths, I´m going to get us home." Somehow she managed to get me, herself and all of our bags out to the car. She quickly pulled out of the parking lot and sped up on the highway. I was trying my hardest not to give in to my panic but it was a mission doomed to fail. When Konan pulled up in front of the house and stopped with screeching tires I was in full panic, not being able to see where I was or who I was with. And still barely being able to breath.

She opened my door and tried to get me out of the car but I could no longer recognize her. She was just a shadow that promised pain, and I was her victim. So when she reached for me I flung myself at her, successfully tackling her to the ground. I heard the front door being flung open but it didn´t mean anything to me as I punched Konan in the face. Suddenly two strong arms circled around me and lifted me off of Konan. I was shaking and I couldn´t breathe so Kisames voice in my ear had little effect.

"Calm down Kitten it´s just us." Konan held a hand against her bruised face and said. "Take her to Sasori or Hidan or Kakuzu, whoever is home. This is a panic-attack we cannot deal with since she no longer recognizes us." Both of them hurried back into the house as Kisame explained. "There´s nobody home but Hidan, Deidara and me so I guess we are lucky." Then he swung open the door to Hidans bedroom without knocking, but Hidan wasn´t there.

"Fuck!" Konan cursed. "Try to calm her down, I´m going to find Hidan." Kisame settled on the floor against the wall and put one of his large hands over my eyes. His other arm struggled to keep me still and against his chest. "Please Kitten, calm down." About now I realized that I wouldn´t get anywhere, Kisame´s grip on me was too strong. "Please don´t hurt me, Please don´t hurt me, Please don´t…" "What are you talking about Kitten? Of course I´m not going to hurt you!" But I didn´t hear him and the panic didn´t let go.

A sudden bang told me that the door had been flung open even though I didn´t pay any attention to it. "Thank Kami you´re here, I can´t get her to calm down and by the way she is struggling I don´t think she even knows where she is or who she´s with." Kisame told the person. Suddenly his hold on me loosened and I quickly scrambled away only to be caught in another man's arms.

His grip on me was just as tight but somehow I didn´t struggle with the same ferocity against him. "You may leave Kisame, go take care of Konan, she got hit real bad. I can take of Sakura." The man holding me said. I heard everything they said, it just didn´t hold any importance to me. Even though I recognized their voices. Once the door shut behind Kisame, the man behind me sat on the bed with me pressed against his chest. He practically radiated safety to my panicky mind and I had almost stopped struggling. I realized that it was Hidan who had the calming effect on me and soon my struggle died out completely. His hand over my eyes made my breathing finally become normal once again and soon I was myself.

At first neither of us said anything, that is until I realized what I had done and broke into tears. He shifted me so that I sat sideways in his lap instead. I had my head leaning against his broad chest and his heartbeat resonated against the shell of my ear. He gently stroked me over my back and said, with his voice even darker than usual because of worry. "What happened to scare you so badly? You didn´t even recognize us, neither did you hear us..."

I pressed myself even more tightly against him before answering him. "I did hear you guys, I just couldn´t connect it to what it meant…" Yet another sob escaped my now chapped lips. "Hush Sakura it´s okay." Hidan comforted me. "But I… I hit Konan… All because that damned Sasuke!" I could tell Hidan was shocked to hear that Sasuke was the cause of my distress. But at the same time it allowed him to better understand my reaction. He knew that I was terrified of Sasuke. The panic-attack had really drained me of energy and it didn´t take long for me to fall asleep in Hidans lap, feeling safe in his embrace.

I woke slowly to two people arguing, I cracked one of my eyes open to see that it was Hidan and Sasori who woke me up. I couldn´t hear what they were arguing about but I didn´t like it one bit. I slowly made my way to the edge of the bed before dashing into the bathroom before either of them had realized that I was awake. I quickly locked the door behind me and then the joining door to my room. I could hear both Sasori and Hidan knocking on the door but I didn´t listen to them, I needed to be alone for a little while.

I knew that both Sasuke and Orochimaru wanted me to join their gang so that was no news, but I didn´t know what to do about it. I pushed these thoughts away and sat down on the edge of the tub. I had hit Konan… I can´t believe I did that, she and Pein must be so angry with me… Sasori and Hidan had stopped banging on the door now but suddenly I heard a much more timid knock on the door leading to my room.

"Who is it?" I asked and the answer came without hesitation. "It´s Konan, will you let me in?" At first I was hesitant to let her in but at the same time I wanted a chance to explain myself, to tell her I was sorry. I silently opened the door just enough to let her in and then quickly closed it again. I stood silent, with my back against the door, not daring to look at her.

"Sakura please look at me." I wouldn´t say that Konan begged me to look at her, it was more like she kindly told me to. Anyway I slowly focused on her face, the dark bruise near her left eye made me cringe. "It´s okay Sakura, I don´t blame you." Was all she said but it was enough to make me cling to her and desperately and repeatedly beg for her forgiveness as tears once more streamed down my face. She hugged me against her and soothingly stroked my hair. She whispered comforting nothings in my ear. After a long time the tears finally stopped and we sat next to each other on the cold bathroom floor.

"What were Sasori and Hidan fighting about?" I asked her, my voice raspy from all the crying. "I´m not really sure… But I believe it was about you and the situation with Sasuke. Sasori seemed to think that moving away, disappearing from the source of the problem, would be the best thing for you. Hidan on the other hand said that facing with the problem and dealing with it was the only way you´d ever being rid of it. Then Sasori got pissed because he said that he was your brother and therefore knew you best." I gave her a sad little smile before responding. "I wonder how he´s going to react when I tell him that Hidan is right… Running from Sasuke will never let me forget him or his threats, staying here and letting him know that he will never have me is the only right thing to do for me."

We sunk back in comfortable silence when once again a soft knock on my bathroom door disturbed us. "Who is it?" I asked, hoping that it wasn´t Sasori or Hidan. I wasn´t ready to see them yet. "It´s Pein, have you seen Konan? She has disappeared…" The worry was clearly evident in his voice and I shared a smile with Konan before opening the door and practically dragging Pein into the bathroom with us before once again closing and locking the door. He looked utterly confused at my behavior and I couldn´t hold back the giggle that wanted to escape, and neither could Konan. He spun around as her pearly laughter filled the room and as soon as he laid his eyes on her, he visibly relaxed.

"Konan." He said relief lacing his voice. "I´m fine dear, as are Sakura." "I´m glad to hear. Especially since Sasori is in Deidaras room, sulking. And Hidan is in the gym, attempting to break his hands on the punching bag from what I could tell." I sighed, why could things never be simple? "Why are you two locked in the bathroom?" Pein proceeded to ask us, the expression on his face so hilarious we broke down in laughter once more. He just looked at us until we were able to answer him. "We´re just having some girl talk, nothing you need to worry about." Konan told him and I couldn´t help but to add. "And we´re also hiding from Sasori and Hidan, well at least I am…" Pein just shook his head and exited the room with Konan in a tight grip. She smiled at me as she was dragged out the door and I decided that I was going to find Sasori first.

As I knocked on Deidaras door, a thousand thoughts flew through my mind but when Deidara opened the door, instead of Sasori who I had expected, my mind went blank. "I… I…" I didn´t know what to say so instead I hung my head not wanting to meet his eyes. "Come on in, un. You look like you need someone to talk to Blossom." Without a word I stepped into his open arms and he quietly closed the door behind us. He just held me for a while and when he let go as was not as tense as before. "I assume you´re here to talk to Sasori? He went to take a walk but maybe I can help you?"

"Is he angry with me?" I asked Deidara, a little bit afraid of the answer. "No he´s not angry with you, I think he´s just confused and worried about you. He´s afraid to lose you again so soon after he has gotten you back. I believe he even might feel threatened by Hidan since you two seem pretty close." I couldn´t comprehend what Deidara told me, why would Sasori feel the need to feel threatened by Hidan? "But why?" I didn´t know what to do about it but I couldn´t stand the thought of my brother hurting if there was anything I could do about it. "Male pride." Was Deidaras only answer but that didn´t explain anything to me. I gave him a look that clearly told him so and he sighed before saying. "Don´t worry about it, it will sort itself out with some time." I nodded and stood up to leave, but with a hand on the door handle I hesitated. "You are very close to my brother, are you not Dei?" He smiled at his new nickname. "Yes I am." I tilted my head to side. "How close?" He avoided my gaze and answered with a whisper I barely heard. "Too close…"

As I shut the door behind me I wondered if it meant what I thought it meant.

I made my way over to the gym, the sound of punches told me that Hidan was still there. I peered through the open door and was met by the awesome sight of Hidans bare back, rippling with powerful muscles and a light coating of sweat due to the hard training. I cautiously stepped closer and when I was only an arm's length away he heard me and spun around. He clearly was on edge and I wondered who he had expected to see behind him. It surely wasn´t me.

His eyes widened and he had a look of surprise on his features. "Hi." I said awkwardly. "Hi… what are you doing here?" He asked me. I felt a light blush cover my cheeks, we were standing face to chest which gave me a clear view of his taut abs. "I´m looking for you actually… I'm… I'm sorry about before." I lowered my head, afraid of looking him in the eyes. "Hey, don´t be afraid of me." He gently lifted my chin so that he was able to look me in the eyes. "I´m not mad at you, so there is no reason for you to be sorry. I can actually understand your reaction…" He gave me a shy smile that made my insides turn to jelly.

Suddenly he was so close that I could feel the heat radiating of his body. His eyes seemed to drown me as I forgot to breath and then, a quick gentle kiss on my lips before he was gone. I slowly touched my lips, I couldn´t believe what had just happened or how to feel about it. He had stolen my first kiss. Even though I was confused and a little bit dazed, a smile found its way to my lips. My first kiss was not a bad experience and I decided to keep it a secret. If I kept it a secret perhaps the tingling feeling would not go away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own naruto**

**Chapter five**

The next few days went by calmly but as I no longer were afraid of anyone in the Akatsuki the nightmares started to haunt my dreams. It was eerily quiet in the big house, almost all of the guys were out. Kisame had a match and Kakuzu had gone with him. Zetzu and Tobi were on a gardener's convention in another town. Deidara and Sasori were on a job for the navy and were expected back in a couple of days and Hidan was working a shift at the club with Itachi standing in for one of the other bouncers. Only Konan and Pein were home with me.

We had decided to rent some movies and have a movie night, although if Pein hadn´t been here we could have done a home spa night but I hadn´t dared to suggest it to them. Konan would surely agree with me but Pein… not so much.

I entered my bedroom fresh from the shower and almost went into chock when I noticed someone sitting on my bed. I relaxed when Konans amber eyes met mine in a cute pout. "You know, if Pein wasn´t here we could have a girls night with home spa and stuff." I chuckled. "Yeah I have thought about that too… But Pein is so not going to do that…" Konans eyes suddenly lit up and she said. "There might be a way to convince him…" I pulled on a pair of black sweatpants and turned towards her. "How?" She looked uncomfortable for a moment before saying. "Well since you wanted to get a piercing, we could trick him into a bet. I´ll bet that you would get a piercing and he will bet against me, so when I win the bet we will get our home spa night. Hell we can even make him give us massages." Konan smirked evilly and I couldn´t hold back a chuckle. I liked her evil side. "But only if you want a piercing of course, I will not force you into something you might regret." I gave her a sly smile and said. "Oh, you will not force me into anything. I really do wish to get a piercing… or two, or three..." She looked at me with big eyes. I nodded. "Yeah, besides imagine what we can make him do with that bet." I winked at her before pulling on a lose fitting purple tank with swirl patterns.

It didn´t take long for us to come up with the bet and get our plan started. I went to find Pein in the kitchen and when I did I snuck up behind him and said. "You know, Konan told me that you guys own a tattoo and piercing studio." He jumped slightly at hearing my voice so close behind him and it did take a few seconds before he could answer me. "Yeah that's right, why? You thinking about get something?" I made my way around him so that I was leaning on the counter in front of him. "I have thought about it, that's true. But I don't know if I dare to… I'm a little afraid it will hurt." In reality I wasn´t afraid at all but we needed to make Pein believe otherwise. "Are you interested in a piercing or a tattoo?" I wanted both but since I wasn´t old enough for a tattoo without Sasoris consent I answered. "A piercing, I want a piercing." I saw a confident smirk on his lips and knew that the plan was doing great. "Well if you want to I can show you the equipment and jewelries, I have some in mine and Konans bedroom." I nodded eagerly and followed him there. He showed me the tools and explained how they were used, then he showed me the jewelry and if I hadn´t already decided to get a piercing, I would now. The jewelry was exquisite. Then the question came just as we had expected. "If you want to I can give you a piercing now." I let my eyes widen and a small smile show before disappearing again. To him it looked just as if I wanted to but didn´t know if I had the guts to actually do it. I quickly excused myself to the bathroom, saying I needed a minute to think about it. But inside the bathroom a pressed my ear to the door and waited for Konans entry.

**With Konan and Pein**

Pein spun around when Konan entered their bedroom, she couldn´t miss the smirk on his lips. "Have you seen Sakura?" Konan asked him, playing her roll perfectly. "She´s in the bathroom trying to decide if she wants a piercing or not." He answered her. "Oh…" she let a small smirk enter her lips. "Pein my love, how about a bet?"

**With Sakura**

I heard them agree on the terms of the bet. If I do one piercing, we´ll get our home spa night. If I do a second one, he will let us choose the movie. And if I do a third one he will give both of us massages. I waited until I heard a knocking on the door and Peins voice through it. "Sakura have you decided yet?" I opened the door and timidly peered out on Pein and Konan. "I´ll do it!" I said with a huge smile. Peins smirk faltered a bit but didn´t let me know about the bet. "As you wish, were do you want it?" "My eyebrow." I said and Konan led me to pick out the jewelry. I choose a simple bananabell in silver and then sat down at their big king size bed at Peins instructions. It didn´t take long before it was done and it didn´t hurt much at all. I was examining my new self in the mirror when Pein said. "Are you happy with it?" I eagerly nodded and turned towards him. "Yes, actually can I get another one?" I saw his eyes widen a fraction before he asked. "Are you sure?" I nodded again and he sighed. "Very well, where do you want this one?" My answer came without hesitation and Konan grinned at me from behind Pein. "My belly button." He only nodded and sent me to pick out the jewelry once more. I chose a bananabell in silver with a small cubic zirconia in each end and a tail of three silver stars. This time I had to lie down on the bed but Peins warm hands had soon finished, once again with almost no pain. "Are you done now or do you want more?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "I want one more." I told him with a grin, I knew he had figured us out but thankfully he didn´t seem angry. "Where?" "In my tongue." I said, earning a surprised look from both Pein and Konan. "Are you sure?" He asked me and I nodded before choosing my jewelry for the last time. It was a simple barbell with a ball that looked like a diamond, glittering in all the colors of the rainbow. This time it did hurt a bit though…

But when Konan and I were discussing different hair care products, facial masks on, the pain was already forgotten. We then moved on to watching the movie titanic, one of each side of Pein. Only so that when the movie ended we each had a shoulder to cry on. After the movie we even did get massages of Pein, he really is a sweetie even though he doesn´t want anyone to know it.

It wasn´t hard at all to fall asleep that night.

_I was in a dark corridor, running for my life. I didn´t know how I had gotten here only that I really had to get out. I busted through a door, only to see Deidara get his throat slit by Sasuke. I cried out in fear and panic but kept running. The next door showed me Pein and Konan, hanging from the roof, their eyes a milky white still holding each other hands. It felt as if my heart would bust out of my chest any minute now, but I kept running. I was showed everybody's deaths. I went into a huge chamber only to see my beloved brother Sasori getting electrocuted. I ran up a stairwell and at the top I saw Hidan with his heart literally ripped out. Suddenly Sasuke stood before me, Hidans heart in hand, saying. "You will be mine!" Before giving me a hard shove to the chest, sending me tumbling down the stairs._

I woke with a start to the sounds of my own screaming. I was filled with panic from the nightmare and didn´t notice at first that I wasn´t alone. Hidan was there with me. He was straddling my thighs and had my wrists in an iron grip. It was clear that he had tried to wake me for quite some time. "Hey are you okay Cherry?" I could hear concern lace his voice and he let go of my wrists to gently cup my cheek. "Yeah I'm fine… just a nightmare." I answered as I tried to hold back my tears, it had seemed so real… He got off me and sat down on bed next to me instead. "You want to talk about it?" I shook my head no. Moonlight was pouring in through the windows and illuminating my room. I saw Hidans gaze lock on mine, but when I put some stray strands of hair behind my ear his gaze shifted to my eye brow. I blushed but let him touch my new piercing. "Did Pein do this?" He asked me and I nodded smiling. "Yes." "You look good in it." There were a few minutes of tense silence before he rose from the bed. "I´m going back to bed now, I'm leaving the bathroom doors open so I can hear if you get another nightmare." "Thank you…" I told him before I was alone once again. I didn´t want him to leave but didn´t dare say something about it. I didn´t want him to think I was weak and clingy. I wanted to be brave. But I didn´t go back to sleep that night...

The next morning I found out that I was alone for the weekend with only Hidan, Kisame, Itachi and Kakuzu for company. I didn´t mind though, I loved all of my new family.

Since I was the first one up (Konan and Pein had left for a weekend trip at five in the morning and it was seven now), I decided to make my boys breakfast. I made my way to the kitchen still in my pajamas. My pajamas were a pair of Itachis black silk boxers and Hidans reaper t-shirt so I thought it was fine. I got started on scrambled eggs and bacon and began whipping up some pancake batter. Soon the kitchen was filled with a wonderful aroma that woke up the others. The first one to enter the Kitchen was Kisame closely followed by Kakuzu. "Morning Kitten, did you make this?" I nodded at him. "Yeah I did, I woke up early so…" Soon Hidan and Itachi joined us and we started planning the day. "How about we go to the beach?" Kisame said. I knew that all the boys enjoyed swimming, they had after all been in the navy.

There was only one problem with that idea, I can´t swim. And I was too ashamed to tell them that. "Hell yeah! That sounds great!" Hidans response was loud where Itachi and Kakuzu responded with a simple nod. I didn´t answer at all. "What do you think Sakura?" Asked Kakuzu. "I… I don´t have a bathing suit…" I kept my gaze locked on the empty plate in front of me, praying that they´d leave it at that. "Well, then we simply have to buy you one." Was Itachis calm answer. I nodded and proceeded to start with the dishes. Perhaps I could sunbathe? There was an unnerving silence from the boys behind me before Itachi asked. "Are you wearing my boxers?" Instead of blushing I gathered up some courage and answered. "Yes, this outfit is my favorite pajamas. The boxers are yours and the shirt is Hidans." It was silent for about three seconds before Kisame started laughing. "Kitten you´re awesome… Go get your things, we leave for the mall in twenty minutes and then we´re heading for the beach!" I didn´t argue with him, who knows, I might even enjoy this.

The beach was really awesome. The sand was white, the sun warm but a breeze from the ocean kept the temperature just right. The boys had gotten me a cute black bikini with silver stars on and I was on my back, enjoying the sun. Suddenly something big blocked the sun and I peered up to see that it was Kisame. "Come on Kitten, let´s get in the water." Before I had time to answer, he scoped me up and carried me bridal style while running out in the water. I was too shocked to say something but when I felt the salty water against my skin I clung to Kisame like my life depended on it. And in a way it did. Soon Kisame was swimming towards the other guys effortlessly despite having me clinging to his neck.

"Hey Cherry!" Greeted Hidan while trying to get Itachi underwater. I didn´t answer him, I was busy keeping my chokehold on Kisame so that I didn´t drown. Kisame chuckled. "It looks like our little Kitten is afraid of water." His accusation made me annoyed and I responded without really thinking ahead. "I´m not scared of water, I just can´t swim." Complete silence followed my statement and I instantly regretted it. "You can´t swim Kitten? Why didn´t you tell us?" Kisame asked me. "Because it´s embarrassing, okay…" I said, not looking at any of them. "It´s nothing to be embarrassed about, we could do something else you know." Kakuzu told me and the others seemed to agree with him. An idea hit me and I decided to ask the guys for a favor of sorts. "Would it be too much to ask that you guys would teach me how to swim at the indoor pool in the house?" There was a moment of silence before Itachi said. "That is actually a great idea, but what of today? Do you want to stay here or do something else?" "I would actually like to stay here, if you all are willing to put up with my clinging?" I heard a chorus of yes and of course before Hidan splashed me and Kisame with water and then the water fight was up and running full speed.

A few hours later we were heading back home in Kisames car, I was surprised that I could have so much fun at a beach without being able to swim. "Are we cooking tonight or eating take out?" Hidan suddenly asked. "Take out" all the boys said as one and it was so funny I couldn´t help but laugh.

Back at the house we carried the food to the living room and then argued over which movie to watch. The boys wanted to watch "black hawk down" but I didn´t. I knew it had a sad ending and I didn´t want to cry in front of the boys. But I lost the movie fight (no surprise there) and soon I was snuggled in between Hidan and Kakuzu on the couch with gunshots echoing from the surround system. I managed to keep from crying almost thru the whole movie but when the end was close, quiet sniffles could be heard from me and tears made their way down my face. Hidan noticed and pressed my face against his shoulder while whispering in my ear. "Is this why you didn´t want to watch this movie?" I only nodded and then felt Kakuzu gently stroking my back. "Remember that we lived the life of soldiers Sakura, to see you cry over something that is just a movie gives us hope in humanity." He said and I was no longer ashamed of my tears. Suddenly Kisame broke the tension by asking something I thought I would never hear from these guys. "Who´s in for some truth or dare?" Even more surprising was that everybody agreed on doing just that.

"Hidan, truth or dare?" asked Kisame. Hidan didn´t hesitate a second before answering. "Dare". Kisame thought for a moment before winking at me and saying. "I dare you to run naked around the room singing blow by kesha". Hidan sighed but started to remove his clothes, when he started unzipping his pants I closed my eyes and hid behind my hands. Seeing him running around totally naked was simply too much for my mental health. When he started singing I leaned closer to Kakuzu and asked him. "Why does he know the lyrics to this song?" "Trust me on this one when I say that you really don´t want to know". He answered. As soon as Hidan was dressed again I opened my eyes only to find that he was looking at me with mischief clearly visible in his eyes. "Cherry, truth or dare?"

I felt brave for a moment and answered. "Dare". He gave me a big smile and said. "I dare you to show us all of your piercings". I paled and Kisame snickered before saying. "Dude, she doesn´t have any piercings." "Yes, she does." Both Itachi and Kakuzu answered and Kisame looked at me with disbelief in his eyes. I pointed at the piercing in my eyebrow and asked him. "How could you miss this?" Then I turned to Hidan and asked him. "And how did you know that I did more than one?" He just shrugged his shoulders and said. "Konan might have accidently told me". I sighed. "Fine". I got up from the couch and lifted my shirt to show them my belly button piercing while telling them. "As if you guys didn´t see this one at the beach". "Very well, but what about your third?" Hidan asked with a devious smile, obviously hoping that it was somewhere I would never show them. He wanted to make me embarrassed. Well I could play that game to.

I sat back down on the couch but almost in his lap this time. I met Itachis gaze over Hidans shoulder and winked at him before whispering in Hidans ear. "So, you want to know where my third piercing is?" I heard his breathing hitch and that's when I licked the shell of his ear, making sure he could feel the piercing in my tongue. Then I made sure to show the other guys my tongue piercing before sitting down between Hidan and Kakuzu again. But before I could ask anyone truth or dare, Itachi asked me. "Would you mind terribly telling me a truth?" I glanced at the other guys, wondering what they would say but Kakuzu told me that they were more interested in my answers than anything else. "Fine, but you only get one question each, it´s getting late". They all nodded and then Itachi voiced his question. "How do you feel about Sasuke being my brother?"

His question was followed by an uncomfortable silence and I could feel both Hidan and Kakuzu tense up. But I had agreed to truth and truth I was going to tell. "I feel… split, divided. I am really terrified of Sasuke but I don´t want to show it because it will make everything worse… I don´t want to make you think you´re doing anything wrong but sometimes I get scared because you look so much like each other…" I wanted to hide from his searching gaze but I felt frozen in place. He got up from his seat and kneeled before me so that he could look into my eyes. "It´s okay Sakura, I promise". He told me before returning to his seat. He hadn´t told me much, or anything I hadn´t already heard, but his words calmed me. The next one to ask me a question was Kisame. He gave me a big grin that told me this was going to get embarrassing. "Are you a virgin?" I felt a blush spread over my face and I lowered my head before answering him. "No…"

A tear slipped from my eye but before anyone could react, I fled from the room and locked myself in my bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I´m uploading two chapters today just because you guys make me feel awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter Six**

I sat on my bed with tears streaming down my face, lost in horrible memories.

_I was walking home from my krav maga training, it was dark already and fall was clearly here. I took my usual shortcut through a back alley when somebody blocked my way forward. I looked up to see dark menacing eyes in a pale face, it belonged to a man surely at least ten years older than me. I spun around, but the way back was blocked by two other guys. Dread filled me and just as I was about to open my mouth and scream, a hand was placed over my face, stopping me. I then tried to use my krav maga to knock them unconscious but they were so much stronger than me… Everything went in a haze as I felt my clothes being ripped off of me and then everything was pain…_

_When I finally had managed to drag myself home that night my father was waiting up for me, greeting me with a hard punch and demanding to know why I was late. I sobbed, telling him that I was raped. He only laughed at me and then grabbed me around the throat, whispering in my ear. "To bad I didn´t come up with that idea". Then he disappeared up the stairs and I was once again left alone._

I was pulled from my memories by someone knocking so hard on my door that it almost came off its hinges. "I swear to Jashin I will break down the door if you´re not answering me this time!" I heard Hidan yell from the other side. But for once I wasn´t scared, this time I got angry. I yelled at him. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He went silent and for a moment I thought he had actually left but then he spoke again, this time in his normal voice. "Please open the door Sakura".

I noticed he didn´t call me by his nickname for me, Cherry. He must really be serious. I didn´t answer him and he soon started banging on the door again. I ignored him and locked myself in our bathroom instead. I was so very tired. Tired of being scared, of being hurt. Tired of trying to be strong. Tired of life. I just wanted to give up but knew I couldn´t do that to Sasori, it would destroy him. I stripped of my pants and hoodie and stepped into the shower only dressed in my black boy short panties and a navy tank top. I turned the water on cold, as cold as it would get, before gently stroking the blade I had hidden in here just for this purpose. I put the blade against my thigh and pressed.

I was no longer aware of how much time had passed, I was feeling kind of dazed but in a good way. I now had a couple of still bleeding wounds on my thighs and it felt _good_. That should have been a warning sign to me but it wasn´t. Suddenly a loud noise came from my bedroom, I guess Hidan finally had had enough and broke down my door. But I didn´t actually care anymore, I had dealt with my breakdown in the only way I knew and now I was fine. A knock on the bathroom door pulled me out of my thoughts. "Sakura it´s two in the morning are you alright? Can you open the door for me?" It was Hidan again but this time his anger was replaced with tiredness and a genuine concern.

I didn´t bother answering him, I still wanted to be left alone and in my daze I didn´t feel how cold the water was or if the wounds hurt. He knocked again. "Sakura please answer me." When he didn´t get an answer this time either he banged a little harder and told me. "If you don´t answer me Sakura I promise you I will break down this door as well, no matter if you are in the shower or not". I knew he was going to break down the door so I wasn´t startled when he threw his bodyweight against the door. The door broke down after only three tries.

If I had looked at him I would have seen his eyes widen as he took in the sorry state I was in. "Shit…" He whispered as he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around me. He made me look into his eyes before saying. "Sakura, I will go and wake up Kakuzu. Please don´t move while I´m away, I don´t want you to exaggerate the bleeding." And then he was gone.

When he arrived with Kakuzu I hadn´t moved but it wasn´t because he told me not to. I was just too tired to do it. Kakuzu looked worried but not near panic as Hidan. He examined my wounds and wrapped them before saying something to Hidan who disappeared with a worried glance my way. Kakuzu then lifted me from the floor and carried me into my door less bedroom where he proceeded to strip me from my wet clothes before putting me in a warm flannel pajama. I was too tired to be embarrassed but I would surely be embarrassed tomorrow. Kakuzu once again lifted me up and carried me through the bathroom to Hidans room. Hidan was there and already in bed. When we entered the room he lifted the covers so that Kakuzu could lay me down next to him. "See you two tomorrow." Kakuzu told us, turned off the lights and left us.

Hidan pulled me closer to his body, apparently he thought I was still too cold. And maybe he was right, his body heat almost burned me even through my pajama. I suddenly felt bad for what I had done; both Hidan and Kakuzu were clearly worried about me. Tears started leaking from my eyes, making Hidans pillow wet. A sob escaped and Hidan gently turned me around so that I was facing him. "Hey are you alright Cherry?" That only made me cry more, he was so nice to me and I had done absolutely nothing to deserve it. He pulled me closer, so that my head was resting against his chest and his hand was stroking my back. "Shh… It´s alright Cherry. I promise it will be alright." I blinked away a few tears before looking up at him, asking. "You´re not mad at me?" "Of course I´m not mad at you! Why would I be mad at you?" I swallowed nervously. "Because I hurt myself and I… I yelled at you…" He cupped my cheek and without breaking eye contact, he told me. "I could never be mad at you for yelling at me. And the thing about you hurting yourself won´t go away just because I get mad, it´s much better if I stay calm and help you deal with it, don´t you agree?" I nodded against his bare chest and let his gentle strokes over my back sooth me to sleep.

I woke up a few hours later, screaming, from the same nightmare as the night before. Again Hidan had to hold me down before he could wake me. And again I sobbed against him before finally falling asleep at the brink of dawn.

When I woke up again it was close to noon and I was alone in Hidans bed. I heard the shower running though and concluded that he was in the bathroom. I rolled over so that I was on his side of the bed, it was still warm so he hadn´t been up long. I was on my stomach with my head buried in Hidans pillow and I was _so _comfortable. I didn´t even hear the shower turn off or Hidan entering the room. It was first when a warm hand landed on my back that I realized someone was talking to me. I looked up to see Hidan in only a pair of loose fitting jeans hovering over me. "Huh?" He gave me a small smile and said. "I asked you if you´re hungry? I could make us some breakfast while you shower." I nodded eagerly. "Sure, I´m starving." I got out of bed quickly and then hurried through my shower. I stopped in my bedroom (which now had a new door) only to put on some black sweatpants and a pale green shirt before I headed to the kitchen.

As soon as I entered the kitchen my senses went into overload from all that beautiful aroma spreading in the air. Someone pushed me down on a chair and I turned my head to see that it was Kisames doing. But something was off with him today, he seemed a lot quieter than usual and the normal sparkle in his eyes was gone. Hidan was busy at the stove so I turned my attention towards the big blue guy next to me. "Hey are you alright Kisa?" He turned to look at me, a surprised look in his eyes.

"I should be the one asking you that… I heard you had a rough night, was it because of my stupid question last night?" I wondered if I should tell him the truth or what I imagined would make him feel better. I finally settled for the truth. "Your question kind of triggered it but don´t worry about it. I could have reacted the same way to Itachis question; unfortunately it was your question that brought up uncomfortable memories." I told him truthfully and even though he winced at the realization that he in a way _was_ responsible for my breakdown, I could see that he wasn´t going to dwell over it for long. At the same moment Hidan slid a plate in front of me that was filled with some wonderful smelling omelet, some crispy bacon and some fresh fruit. The food tasted as good as it looked and it was soon gone. When the last of the bacon disappeared into my mouth Kakuzu entered the room and the look he gave me clearly told me that he wanted to talk to me. Alone.

I put my plate in the dishwasher and then followed him to his bedroom without complaining. I knew that it wouldn´t do me any good.

He locked the door behind me as I entered his bedroom, he didn´t want us to be interrupted. I took a seat on his bed and he sat in a chair he pulled up in front of me. I didn´t bother saying anything, or asking anything, I just waited for him to say something. I didn´t have to wait long.

"What happened last night?" Was his simple question. Yet I found it very hard to answer. "I had a breakdown." "Yes, I noticed that. What I´m wondering is what caused it?" I took a deep breath. "Some bad memories." "What kind of bad memories?" I didn´t answer that but Kakuzu didn´t get angry, he just asked another question. "Did the bad memories have something to do with the question Kisame asked you last night?" I nodded my head yes. "Sakura were you raped?" He asked that question in a softer voice, as if he already knew…

I nodded again, tears burning in my eyes, longing for freedom. "Was it your parents?" This time I could hear that he had to force himself to ask that question. I shook my head no and said. "No it was a stranger… I was on my way home from training when he and two of his friends jumped me, I… I couldn´t fight all of them off…" My voice was wavering with held back emotions but I needed to say this before I could allow myself to break down. Kakuzus worried eyes were glued to my every movement, he was prepared for any reaction I might give him it seemed.

"When they were… done with me I managed to make my way home only to find my father waiting up for me. He hit me and when I told him I had been raped he told me he was sorry he didn´t think of it first." By now the tears were falling at a steady pace from my eyes and my shoulders were shaking from repressing the sobs that wanted out. Suddenly Kakuzu moved so that he was sitting next to me on the bed instead and when he wrapped me in his arms all my walls broke down and I let the sorrow run free.

Kakuzu didn´t once make me feel like I was a burden for crying on him for a whole hour. Instead he was a perfect gentleman, stroking my back and murmuring soothing words in my ear. He let me cry for my lost virginity and when the tears stopped he continued to hold me while asking his questions. "Why did you hurt yourself last night?" I had to think about it before I could answer him and even then I wasn´t sure on how accurate my answer was. "It´s hard to explain… It kind of felt like I was drowning but at the same time not. I felt really tired, like I was at least a thousand years old. And it hurt and I didn´t know what to do so I guess that I tried to let the pain out…" He seemed to get what I was trying to say even though I wasn´t sure how he did it, but he nodded and told me. "Pain is familiar to you so when you got overwhelmed by feelings you didn´t know how to handle, you tried to make them go away by replacing them with physical discomfort. Did it work?"

I slowly shook my head. "It didn´t make the feelings go away but they got manageable." He was quiet for a while before asking me. "Are you suicidal Sakura?" I immediately shook my head no. "Of course not! I could never do that to Sasori or any of you guys for that matter… It´s more like I do it because I don´t want to die…" Apparently that answer triggered some warning bell with Kakuzu because he asked me. "Have you been hurting yourself before?" I nodded, shame making my face burn. "Since I was eleven… I´m really good at hiding it…" I whispered. Another silent pause filled the room before Kakuzu broke it. "Will you make me a promise?" "That depends on the promise." I told him and he nodded. "Fair enough, will you promise me to try stop hurting yourself?" I thought about for a few seconds before I answered him. "I promise I will try." "That´s all I´m asking for." Kakuzu said with a small smile.

A few hours later I was in my room, reading when a light knock disturbed my peace. I yelled at the person to enter and Hidan and Itachi opened the door. I was surprised to see both of them; Itachi and Hidan didn´t usually spend much time together. "Yes?" I asked them, surprise clearly showing in my voice. "We wondered if you would like to go with us to the pool. We could give you your first swimming lesson if you want?" I nodded eagerly. "Sure just give me a minute to change and I´ll be ready." They nodded and walked out in the hallway to wait for me. I quickly put on the same bikini as I wore yesterday and wrapped myself in a big black towel before meeting up with the guys. This time I saw that both of them were wearing bathing shorts with their shirts. I gave them a smile and we started walking towards the indoor pool.

Itachi was walking ahead of us and Hidan leaned down towards me to ask me a question that he couldn´t hear. "Did it go well with Kakuzu this morning? You two were talking for quite long." I gave him a sideways glance, Kakuzu had told me that our conversion would be kept a secret until I felt comfortable with him telling the others. "How did you know what we were doing?" He gave me a small smile. "It was I who told him you needed to start talking about what´s happened to you." That explained how he knew. "Anyway just know that if you want to talk about something, anything, you can come to me as well as Kakuzu." I smiled at him; he was so sweet to me. "I know." Was my simple response right before we arrived at the pool.

Both boys threw off their shirts and immediately dived in at the deep end of the pool. I laughed at them, they were so cute with their hair all wet and plastered to their faces. Hidan smiled at me and held out his arms for me. "Jump in Cherry! I´ll catch you." I wanted to jump in the water really bad but I was scared at the same time, which of course both boys noticed. "It´s okay Sakura, we won´t let you drown, promise." Itachi told me and I smiled before jumping off the edge into the water. I did after all, trust my new family.

As soon as my head went underwater I felt strong hands around my waist and I was lifted up again so that my head was above the water. I clung to the shoulders of the person holding me and met Hidans violet glittering eyes as I gave him a huge smile and told him. "That was so _amazing_!" He only grinned at me. "I knew you would like it." We played around for a bit more before Itachi got serious and said. "The first step to learn how to swim is to not be afraid of the water. Therefore we are going to teach you how to float first." I nodded but my stomach tightened in nervousness. What if I sank beneath the surface? "I want you to lie on your back and relax; Hidan and I are both going to hold you up until you feel comfortable." Itachi told me. "What happens then?" I asked him nervously. "Then only one of us will hold you up until you can float on your own." Hidan told me. I nodded and leaned back into their arms, trying to be brave. Soon I actually was kind of floating but with the safe feeling of Hidan and Itachis muscular arms beneath my back and neck. I could hear nothing but the small splashes from the water and the boys breathing and I was soon completely relaxed and actually dared to close my eyes.

They started to move around a little in the water with me but since my head never went under the surface I didn´t tense up. Hell I didn´t even notice Itachi leaving us. But when I opened my eyes again I could only see a pair of violet eyes staring back down at me, the dark red pair had gone missing. It made me try and stand up which in turn made Hidan lose his grip on me because of my sudden movement. I went under the surface but since we were in the shallow part of the pool I quickly resurfaced sputtering water. I glared at the now laughing Hidan and then exited the pool with as much dignity as I could muster. I left the room with Hidans laughter still echoing in my ears. A few minutes later when I was in the shower in mine and Hidans bathroom I realized that I actually felt proud over myself, something I hadn´t done in a long time.

Later that night when I was in my bed trying to sleep I thought about all the people who made up my new family. First there was Sasori, the brother I thought I had lost. I loved him but I sometimes whished he would stop doing the jobs for the navy, they were dangerous even if he was good at what he was doing. Then we had Deidara, Sasoris best friend and one of my favorite guys of the gang. I loved all of the gang of course but there was something extra special about Deidara. I also believed he was gay and in love with my clueless brother who didn´t seem to realize it. Konan and Pein were like the caretakers of us all despite not being the oldest. Konan was warm, motherly and cared for us all. Pein was serious but had humor and was always looking after us. Kisame was like a fun older brother while Tobi was the annoying younger one. Zetzu was a little creepy from time to time but I loved him as well. Itachi was like Pein always serious with a hidden fun side but I trusted his advice in every aspect. Kakuzu was one of the guys I trusted the most. He cared for me and helped me, and he did it without making me feel uncomfortable. And then there was Hidan. Hidan was special, he was my best friend, the one to calm my stressed out nerves. The one to heal my soul. And maybe, just maybe the one to make me believe in love.

I fell asleep with the thoughts of Hidan still fresh on my mind.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Seven**

_The night was pitch black around me but I knew someone was beside me. I caught a glimpse of blonde hair next to me and somehow knew that it was Deidara. I looked to my other side and saw a familiar redhead, Sasori. The two of them was whispering fast as they nervously looked around them. I got the weird feeling that they couldn´t see me at all. _

_Suddenly we were up and running, gunfire echoing all around us. We were running for a vehicle hidden in the shadows when Sasori suddenly stumbled and almost fell. Deidara shouted something and almost stopped but Sasori kept going and so did he. At the vehicle Deidara jumped in behind the wheel while Sasori took the passenger side. Deidara took off with screeching tires and gave Sasori quick, worried glances before pressing down harder on the pedal. I took a look at my brother and my heart nearly stopped. He had a blood streaming from a gunshot wound to the chest. He was unconscious and I couldn´t see if he was breathing._

I woke up screaming and the screams wouldn´t stop. It only took a few seconds for Hidan to enter my bedroom, his eyes wide in panic. He tried to calm me down but nothing seemed to help. It didn´t take long for the other guys to come running, my screams could wake the dead. Kakuzu immediately felt for my pulse telling Kisame to help Hidan hold me down so that I didn´t hurt myself. Itachi just stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do. I had Kakuzu holding down my right shoulder as he tried to check my pulse and Kisame on the other side holding down my left shoulder. Hidan sat once again across my thighs, his hands cupping my face, trying to calm me with his words.

Then I stopped screaming, as suddenly as I had begun. All of the guys were staring at me and then the panic hit me. I struggled to catch my breath and Kakuzu and Kisame immediately released me so that Hidan could sit with me on the floor as we did during my earlier panic-attacks.

It took me a while to calm down but when I finally did, I fell back against Hidan completely exhausted. He took his hand away from my face and let it join the other one at my waist and I peeked at the others. Itachi sat in my desk chair and Kakuzu and Kisame sat on my bed. All of them had the same worried look in their eyes. Kakuzu was the only one brave enough to ask me what had caused my distress.

"Sasori has been shot." I told them, tears starting to run down my face. I was too exhausted to sob but the tears fell anyway. Only silence followed my statement until Hidan asked me. "How do you know that? Are you sure it wasn´t just a dream?" I shook my head. "No I´m sure it´s real, even though I saw it in a dream. I´ve had dreams that have come true all my life, I know how to recognize them." I told them.

"Well, if you´re right we should get the call soon." Itachi said while looking at the floor. I didn´t know if it was because he was afraid to look at me or because he felt guilty not going with Sasori and Deidara on this mission, I knew the three of them almost never did missions without all three of them present.

"They were driving when I woke up. Deidara was driving and Sasori was unconscious in the passenger seat, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest about here." I said and pointed to an area about two inches below his right nipple.

All of the guys looked at me, amazement in their eyes, when the phone rang.

At first no one moved but then Kakuzu shot up from my bed and answered the phone that was on a low table in the hallway. No one moved as he talked to the person calling but it felt as if my heart was going to jump right out of my chest and I could feel my throat starting to tighten again. Thankfully Hidan seemed to notice this too and he resumed talking calmly to me with his hand over my eyes.

Out in the hallway Kakuzu hanged up and then walked back into the room. I pulled Hidans hand down but I could read nothing from his face. The tension was so high you could almost cut it with a knife.

He then turned to look at me and I instantly knew I had been right, Sasori had been shot. I fell back against Hidan and then the world went black.

When I came to again I was tucked into a bed that was not my own, neither was I in Hidans bed. This bed was much bigger than ours and it had dark blue silk sheets. I looked around and found Kisame sitting in a chair not far away looking at me with concerned eyes. I sat up slowly while asking him. "Where is everyone?" "Itachi is asleep and Kakuzu and Hidan are on their way to the military hospital to check on Sasori and pick up Deidara." He told me in his calm, rumbling voice. "He´s not dead?" I whispered relief clearly visible in my voice and Kisames worried expression changed to one of relief as well. "No he´s going to be fine, even if it may take a while." He told me truthfully. We sat in silence for a while before he said. "You should try and go back to sleep kitten, it´s only 3:30 in the morning." I nodded and then lowered my gaze, not moving an inch. "Is something wrong kitten?" I shook my head no and admitted. "It´s just that… could you lay down with me? I don´t want to be alone…" I took a chance and looked up only to see Kisames eyes soften and a small smile grace his lips. "Sure." He said, stripping down to his pants before sliding in next to me under the covers. I snuggled up against his broad chest and it didn´t take long before I fell asleep again.

When I woke up that morning it was to an empty bed and raised voices in the hallway outside. I quickly got out of bed and headed for the door only to stop and listen to what was said on the other side.

"Why didn´t you abort the mission as soon as you knew something was wrong?!" shouted a voice I´d recognize everywhere, Hidan. "I tried! But he was stubborn and didn´t listen to me! What should I have done? Shot him myself only to get him out of there?" The other voice was just as upset as the first one and also one I recognized without a problem, it was Deidara. "Well you didn´t see her this night, she was panicking, a complete mess at the thought of her only lasting family being dead." Hidan said in a calmer voice. "You know I love her like a little sister, but what could I have done? I didn´t know she dreamed of what happened…" Deidara was also calmer now and I felt it was the right time to show myself. I flung the door open and then launched myself at Deidara. I clung to his neck and he instinctively wrapped his arms around my middle, holding me to him. "Thank god you´re okay…" I whispered so that only he could hear it. Louder I asked him. "Sasori is going to be okay?" He held me a little tighter and said. "Yeah, Sasori is going to be okay, un."

The whole day I was glued to Deidaras side, I only let him out of my sight when he was in the bathroom. So that night when we were sitting in the living room, watching a movie, he asked me about it. "Why have you been clinging to me the whole day Blossom? Has something happened when I was away, un?" Of course my first reaction to that was the feeling of rejection. "You want me to leave you alone?" His eyes immediately widened. "No! Of course I don´t want you to leave blossom. I just wondered if something has happened since you for now seem to be ignoring Hidan. Un?" I only looked at him with a blank look and he continued. "Aw come on Blossom, don´t tell me there´s nothing between you two, un?" Now I knew what he meant and I felt my cheeks flush a bright pink. "Ha! I knew it, un. There is something going on there." He said happily. "Well, yeah, maybe… But I don´t know exactly what it is…" I admitted and hid my burning face against his shoulder.

He patted me on the head, telling me. "It´ll work out fine, un. Hidan just have to get the guts to tell you how he feel, Blossom. Right now he is scared of scaring you away. Just give him time, un." I gave him a smile and snuggled even closer to his warm body. But we didn´t sit long in silence before he spoke again. "I still got the feeling that something happened while I was away…" I took a deep breath and admitted. "That´s probably because something kind of did happen…" His blue eyes immediately locked on me and he said. "Tell me." "Not, here…" I started but before I could finish the sentence he had lifted me from the couch and was walking toward his bedroom with me securely wrapped in his arms. I constantly forgot that all the guys here were really strong...

He sat me down on his bed before locking his door and turning towards me. "Now tell me." He said and I hesitantly started telling him about my breakdown, about the rape and about me hurting myself. When I was finished tears once again poured down my face and Deidara held me tightly against his chest. But strangely enough I felt a little bit lighter as well, as if my burden wasn´t as heavy as before. "Are you getting any help dealing with this Blossom?" He asked me and I nodded. "I´ve started talking to Kakuzu… I think I might continue doing that for now." He hugged me closer to himself and said. "You know that you can talk to me about anything too, right?" I smiled and nodded again. "Yeah I know… Hidan told me the same thing." Deidara chuckled and it didn´t take long before I fell asleep on him, feeling safe in his embrace.

I woke when somebody put me down in a bed, my own bed. I heard whispering voices above me and tried to listen without giving away that I was half awake.

"Where was she?" I worried voice I recognized as Hidans asked. "At first we were watching a movie in the living room, then we went to my room and she told me about the breakdown, the hurting herself and the rape and then she fell asleep on me." Deidara answered calmly. "She was _raped?!_" Hidans voice got a bit louder but not enough to wake me up completely. "Oh Kami… She hadn´t told you? I would never have said anything if I didn´t think you knew… Damn I´m sorry Hidan, un." Deidara immediately said shock evident in his voice. "It´s okay Deidara, you didn´t know. I´m just wondering why she hadn´t told me… Doesn´t she trusts me?"

Hidan actually sounded sad at the thought that I might not trust him with this but that wasn´t the case at all, surely he knew that? "I don´t think she hasn´t told you because she doesn´t trust you, un. Because she does, I think it´s more because she is worried of how you will look at her when she tells you, un. She is scared you will look at her differently." Both of them were quiet for a while and I almost went back to sleep when Hidan said. "I wouldn´t do that." "I know you wouldn't." Deidara agreed. "But she doesn´t." He told Hidan before exiting the room. Hidan leaned down and kissed my forehead before whispering. "Sweet dreams Cherry." He turned to walk away but before he could I grabbed his hand and asked him. "Please stay with me?" His wide eyes told me he hadn´t knew I was awake. "You´re awake?" I nodded. "How much did you hear?"

I could feel how tense he was and answered him calmly. "Everything after you asked Dei where I had been." He turned away his gaze from me; it almost seemed as if he was scared of my next move. "I´m sorry I didn´t tell you about the rape…" He almost flinched, he clearly wasn´t prepared for that. He sat down on my bed before saying. "Don´t be sorry, it´s your right to tell or not to tell whoever you want." "Yeah, but it was exactly as Deidara said. I was afraid that you would look at me differently…" I admitted and I felt him squeeze my hand tighter. "Then you must´ve heard me saying that I would never look at you differently because of it?" I nodded "I did." There was a moment of silence before he said. "You still want me to stay?" I nodded and he gave me a small smile before sliding under the covers. I snuggled up against him and he put his arm around me. I was really tired but before I could allow myself to sleep I needed to tell him something. "Hidan…" "Yes?" Came his low reply. "Will you listen if I tell you about the rape?" "I will always listen to whatever you wish to tell me."

I slept better than in a long time that night.

The next morning I, Kakuzu and Deidara went to the military hospital to visit Sasori. The car ride was uneventful and when we arrived, Kakuzu and Deidara allowed me to see him first while they spoke to the doctors.

I opened the door to Sasoris room and was immediately blinded by all the white that dominated the space. He was in bed and surrounded by different machines. He opened his eyes and smiled when he saw me standing in the doorway.

"Hey sis, come on in." I did as he told me and took a seat in a chair next to his bed. "Are you okay? Are you in pain?" I asked him, worry taking over my calm appearance. "I´ll be fine sis, don´t worry so much." He sounded just like himself and I gave him a sad smile and told him. "I dreamed of you getting shot, the bullet went in here and there was so much blood…" I told him and carefully touched his clothed chest were I knew the entry wound was. "You still get those dreams?" I nodded and a tear escaped from my eye. He wiped away the tear and I said. "You do realize that you almost gave us all a heart attack? You´ve got to be more careful… I´ve only just gotten you back, I can´t lose you again…" He watched me carefully before giving me the answer I knew I would get. "I know." We were silent for a while before someone knocked on the door and Kakuzu and Deidara entered. I saw Sasoris face lighten up as he saw Deidara, I hid my smile as I started plotting how to get those two together. I was almost certain they had a thing for each other.

We all talked for a while before Kakuzu got up and told us we should be heading back. I got up to and then gave Sasori a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Kakuzu and I were almost at the door when we realized that Deidara hadn´t moved. "Are you coming?" Kakuzu asked him. He shook his head. "No I´ll stay here for a while…" He and Sasori shared a look that almost made me giggle. Kakuzu only nodded his consent. "Call us if you need a ride." Then me and Kakuzu were on our way back.

When we returned home Kakuzu gave me a sign to follow him which I did. As I suspected we ended up in his bedroom were we took the same seating's as last time, me on the bed, him on a chair.

"Deidara told me you said you wanted to continue these sessions?" I nodded. "Yeah I did, I feel better after talking about the rape and I feel comfortable talking to you…"

He frowned at me. "You don´t feel comfortable talking to Hidan or Deidara or Sasori?" "Of course I do but… they kind of let their emotions control their reactions. I can´t handle that if it is the first time I tell something that is painful to me." I explained and he nodded. "You want me to tell the others for you?" I nodded, relief filling my whole body. "Then I will do that, but for now let´s talk about something else.

I want you to tell me a painful memory each time we have these sessions until your nightmares go away." I nodded but then said without thinking. "Sure but the nightmares are not often about what my parents did." As soon as I finished the sentence I slapped my hand over my mouth. Kakuzus serious gaze locked on me and he asked me. "Then what are most of your nightmares about?"

I lowered my head without answering him, I didn´t want to tell him, he would think it was stupid… "Why do you not want to tell me what your nightmares are about?" Damn, this man is way too perceptive for his own good. "You´ll think it´s stupid…" I muttered under my breath. He sighed and then raised my head with two fingers under my chin so that I met his gaze before he said. "Now why would I think that?" I just shrugged. "Tell me anyway then, please?" Aw shit he said please… Now I have to tell him.

"I dream that I´m in a house, trying to find my way out. But behind every door I open I see one of you guys… And you´re always dead or dying. Right before I wake up I´m going up some stairs and at the top of them I see Sasuke with Hidans heart in his hand before he pushes me down the stairs, that´s when I wake up."

"Why would I think that your dream is stupid?" He asked me, confused over my unwillingness to tell him about the dream. "I don´t know… Because I´m pathetic enough to have become so dependent on you guys that I wake up screaming when I dream of your deaths?" I told him trying to hide my face.

He didn´t let me hide and instead looked me in the eyes and told me. "If I dreamt of you and all the others dying I would wake up screaming to." I blushed at the honesty in his voice and once again he had turned something I felt uncomfortable about and made it feel okay.

"How come we doesn´t wake up because of your screaming when we did that when you dreamt of Sasori getting shot?" Was his next question. "I think I don´t scream as loud… Or maybe it´s because Hidan has enough time to get me to wake up before you guys…" I told him.

"Hidan wakes you up?" Kakuzu sounded surprised, I guess Hidan hadn´t told him about me getting the same nightmare almost every night. "Every time." "It happens often?" "Almost every night…" We were silent for a while before someone knocked on the door and yelled something about food.

I told Kakuzu I wasn´t hungry and instead I went back to my room, changing into a pair of grey yoga pants and a hot pink sports bra with a white oversized tank top on top.

It had been way too long since I had gotten a good workout.

Since the gym was soundproof I plugged in my mp3 into the sound system and put on some songs of Avantasia. Then I warmed up before starting on my usual 8 miles on the treadmill. The second I finished someone turned off my music and I quickly spun around.

Only to see Hidan standing by the sound system with a big grin on his face. "I didn´t know you liked to work out." He told me, still smiling. "Didn´t you know? I used to train krav maga." I saw his mouth fall open in surprise and smiled at him before asking. "Would you like to spar?" He nodded, eager as a child, and completely confident in that he would have no troubles beating me.

If he only knew.

We put some mats on the floor before we started to circle each other. Hidan feinted right then punched left, aiming for my ribs, but I read him easily and twisted out of the way before aiming a roundhouse kick to his face.

I noticed surprise on his face as he barely dodged out of the way and I told him. "You may want be on your guard, I was after all best in my class and I don´t pull my punches." His eyes glittered with excitement and a smile graced his lips. "If you don´t pull your punches Cherry, then don´t expect me to do that either."

I only gave him a smile as answer before lunging for him again. He dodged me and aimed a kick to my middle which I had to fall back and almost going down in a bridge to be able to avoid.

Thank kami for flexibility.

We danced for a while, both of us throwing punches and kicks but none of them landing. It seemed like we were evenly matched. Lucky for me, I had no troubles about playing dirty.

He aimed a powerful punch to my face and I let it land, much to his surprise. He hit my mouth and I felt my lower lip crack and blood started flowing into my mouth.

Hidan was frozen on the spot as a small trickle of blood made its way down my chin. And right then I aimed a roundhouse kick to his middle, followed up with a punch to his face and ended it by tackle him to the ground and pinning him to the floor with my body.

"I won." I said triumphantly but was startled when somebody started clapping their hands.

I looked up and saw that almost all the gang was here, Kisame, Kakuzu and Itachi of course, but also Konan and Pein. They must´ve just gotten back. And all of them applauded me winning over Hidan.

I didn´t understand why.

I was still sitting on top of Hidan and I looked down on him in hope of an explanation but he was only looking up at me with a slight glazed over look. He must have been in shock or something…

Suddenly Kakuzu kneeled beside us, took a quick look at me and then at him before asking me. "What did you do to him?" I took a closer look at Hidan before answering him. "I kicked him in the ribs and probably bruised them; we were not pulling our punches. Then I hit him in the face, making his eyebrow split open, before tackling him to the ground. Didn´t you see that?"

"Yeah I saw it but that doesn´t explain why he´s so shocked…" I thought about it for a second before saying. "Maybe it´s because I let him hit me?"

"You_ let_ him hit you?" The question came from Pein, who looked surprised to say the least. I nodded. "Yeah, we were too even so I decided to play dirty." I heard Kisame chuckle at that but my focus was on Pein whose face changed from showing surprise, to show amazement and then thoughtfulness.

Suddenly Hidan moved under me and I realized that I was still sitting on him. I jumped up and Kakuzu gave him a once over telling him that his eyebrow needed stiches but otherwise he was fine. Kakuzu then turned to me, looking at my lip and telling me to put some ice on it.

I left Hidan in Kakuzus care and went to the kitchen with the others trailing behind me, all of them asking questions about how I learned to fight like that.

I only told them that I had been taking some krav maga classes, it was the truth but I might not have mentioned that I was also extremely strong and agile for someone my size and age.

After I had some ice wrapped in a towel pressed to my lip, Pein asked to see me in the office so I obediently followed him, believing I was going to get in trouble for hurting Hidan.

In the office he sat behind the desk and I sat in a chair in front of him, suddenly nervous. "I´m sorry for hurting Hidan, it won´t happen again." I told him, hoping for forgiveness. "Don´t be sorry, it seems like he hurt you just as bad." Okay now I was confused, wasn´t I here to be yelled at? "You´re not mad at me?" I asked him, the confusion clearly showing. "Of course not, why did you think that? No, I asked you her to ask you a question." He told me and relief flooded me. "Very well then what is the question?"

"Will you join the Akatsuki?"


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** This is for you, M00NBunnie K! =)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Eight**

Recap: "Will you join the Akatsuki?"

I was stunned silent, why would he want me in the Akatsuki? Did I want to be in the Akatsuki? The Akatsuki were a gang and gangs dealt with weapons, drugs and assaults… Could I handle the illegal part of being in a gang even though I loved the guys in it?

"Sakura?" Peins voice pulled me back from my thoughts and I looked up to meet his steady gaze. "Huh?"

"Will you join the Akatsuki or not?" I hung my head in shame. "I don´t know…" At hearing this he frowned before asking me. "Why?" I sighed, preparing myself for possibly having to leave my newfound family.

"Because I´m not certain that I would be able to handle the part about drugs and assaults and stuff…" I told him honestly. "Has no one told you what we do as a gang?" I shook my head no and told him. "The only thing I know about the Akatsuki is that you are a powerful gang, that all of you are really skilled and that you hold respect in the city."

"Then you need to know that we are no ordinary gang, instead I guess you could say that we are a gang that works to stop the other gangs. We don´t deal with drugs or any of that shit, we only try to protect the people in our area from the other gangs as well as make the other gangs go away." Pein explained to me.

"But not by killing them?" I asked him hopefully. "Not unless we have to or they attack us first." He answered truthfully. "I have never held a gun." I warned him but he just shrugged. "We will teach you."

I found myself wanting to join but still unsure if I should. Why did they want me to join? Was it only because I was Sasoris baby sister? Was it because they pitied me? It had to be something like that; I had no skills to brag about like the others.

"Why do you want me to join?" I found myself asking, despite being slightly afraid of hearing the answer. "You are kind, perceptive and a good fighter. You also don´t judge us." Pein told me but I questioned him.

"How could I possibly being a good fighter compared to you guys? Just because I got lucky enough to beat Hidan once…" Pein cut me off here. "It wasn´t luck that made you able to beat Hidan, it was skill. Yes you were playing dirty but so does the other gangs. You saw an opportunity to win and you took it."

He must have seen that I had trouble believing him because he took my hand in his and told me. "If I didn´t think you would be an asset to the gang I would never have offered you a spot as a member." This I believed and I gave him a half happy, half scared smile and told him.

"If you really believe that, then who am I to say no?"

"Does that mean you will join us?" Did I hear wrong or did Pein actually sound hopeful? I nodded and the happy overtook my smile.

"I would love to join the Akatsuki."

Pein filled me in on what exactly they had been doing; apparently they have managed to keep the gang work hidden from me during my stay here.

Their area was the whole south part of the city, with this house sitting in the middle of it. They were currently fighting against the gang called Sound, which was being led by Orochimaru. There was a few other gangs as well, like the Leaf and the Sand but they were kind of allied with the Akatsuki and didn´t cause any trouble.

Apparently Zetzu and Tobi wasn´t at all on a gardener's convention. Instead they were on a mission to spy on the Sound gang while at the same time trying to find out what Orochimaru and Sasuke wanted with me, besides the obvious.

But he also told me that all of them really did what they had told me, they just did the gang work as well. But of course none of them worked full time.

Pein then proceeded to tell me that he himself would teach me how to handle a weapon and that I would get some classes in first aid by Kakuzu. "It would be good if you kept sparring with different partners as well." I only nodded agreeing with him. "Should I keep up my swimming lessons as well?" I asked him. "You can´t swim?" He asked me with raised eyebrows. "No, Itachi, Hidan, Kakuzu and Kisame offered to teach me how when they found out." He nodded. "Yes that would be good."

He also told me that I needed to get their symbol, a red cloud lined in black, tattooed somewhere on my body. He also told me that I could pick where to put it and that I didn´t need Sasoris approval to do that one.

"Could we keep it a secret to all but Kakuzu that I´ve agreed on become a member? I really wish to be more on par with the rest of you guys before I tell them…" I thought Pein would think my request as odd but it didn´t seem like that when he told me.

"Sure, just tell me when you´re ready. But I won´t send you out on missions before that and then you still don´t go alone. No one goes out alone. I easily agreed to that and he told me I would meet up with Kakuzu the following day for my first lesson in first aid and getting my tattoo.

When I exited Peins office Hidan was waiting for me in the hallway outside. The concerned look he gave me told me that he too had been worried about Pein yelling at me because of our sparring.

"What did he want?" He asked me but before I answered him I took a closer look at his eyebrow. "Sorry about that." I whispered before telling him. "He was just wondering about how much fighting experience I had, he wants me to keep sparring with you guys." Hidan nodded at that. "Seems like a good idea to me." He told me, clearly agreeing with Pein. "Come on now, I know you didn´t eat something before and there´s leftovers in the kitchen. I smiled at him before letting him leading me away to the kitchen.

That night I was physically exhausted when I went to bed but still I woke up a few hours later, screaming once again from the nightmare. And once again Hidan had woken me up and now held me as I cried.

"What do you dream about that makes you so scared? Is it your parents? Or Orochimaru and Sasuke?" He asked me. He asked me that question almost every night but never getting an answer.

But this night I answered him. Kakuzu hadn´t thought that I was stupid so why would Hidan? Right?

I was scared of his reaction but still told him. "I dream of all you guys dying on me… All of you in different ways…" I was starting to shake and Hidan held me tighter against him. "I dream of Deidara getting his throat slit, of Pein and Konan hanging from the ceiling their eyes milky white and unseeing. I see Sasori getting electrocuted and you getting your heart ripped out… And the guilty one is Sasuke…"

I was now sobbing once more, drenching my pillows with my tears. And Hidan was once again comforting me.

The next morning I woke up in Hidans bed, we had deemed my pillows to wet to sleep on and I had spent the rest of the night in Hidans embrace.

I turned around and found him awake and looking at me. "Morning." I whispered. "Morning Cherry." He responded and yawned. I took a peek at the alarm clock he had by the bed and almost panicked when I saw that it was showing 10:14. I was supposed to meet Kakuzu for my first lesson at 10:30!

I jumped out of bed, gave Hidan a quick peck on the cheek and then ran into my own bedroom to change. It wasn´t until I pulled on a pair of grey skinny jeans that I realized that I had kissed Hidan. Sure It was just a peck on the cheek but still… I shrugged, I would probably find out his reaction to it later, for now I was still running late.

I pulled on a black shirt with big golden stars printed on the left side and put my hair in a sloppy ponytail before rushing past the kitchen, grabbing an apple and managing to meet Kakuzu outside his room right on time.

"Morning Kakuzu." I told him happily, getting a nod and a small smile in return. He was kind enough to let me finish my apple before starting to teach me the basics in first aid. I thought the lesson was supposed to be an hour but we kept going until lunch.

"Good work Sakura, let´s meet at the garage in an hour." He told me as we finished our lesson. I nodded my agreement before heading to the kitchen in search of some food.

In the kitchen I found Hidan at the table, eating something that looked like lasagna. I opened the fridge and to my joy found more leftovers. As I sat down across the table from him I remembered my sudden departure from his bed this morning and a blush crept up on my cheeks.

"I´m sorry… about the kiss this morning. I wasn´t thinking and…" Hidan cut me off here. "It´s alright Cherry." He winked at me. "I didn´t mind."

My blush grew even stronger and Hidan tried to hide his chuckle. He clearly found me amusing.

I met Kakuzu in the garage as planned and we rode in his dark grey Shelby to the shop where I was going to get my tattoo. He pulled up in front of the shop and turned off the car but when I saw Peins red mustang I grabbed his arm and asked him worriedly.

"Is someone else here?" "Only Pein." Was his calm answer and I felt myself relax again. He led me inside and Pein waved at us from his station. Kakuzu led me to a small room clearly meant for tattoos on _sensitive_ places, or tattoos that would take very long to do.

He gestured for me to sit before he started fixing the station, fixing with the machine and the colors. "Have you decided where you want it?" He asked me while washing his hands and putting on some rubber gloves. I nodded. "I would like it on the back of my neck." "Sure, put your hair up and we´ll begin." He told me and I nervously put my hair up in a bun on top of my head before turning around, letting Kakuzu see my bared neck.

"Will you be able to tattoo over the scar?" I asked him in a whisper. I knew I had an ugly scar from a burn on the back on my neck. I had scars over most of my body but there was a few I only wanted to forget about. The one on the back of my neck was one of them.

"I will." Kakuzu said, lightly touching the pale, uneven skin. He dipped the tip of the machine in the black ink before putting it to my skin. The pain wasn´t so bad but the buzzing sound was annoying.

"What gave you that scar?" He asked me as he worked. "My father did, he heated up a pipe with a Bunsen burner before putting it to my skin." He worked in silence for a while before asking the next question.

"Why did he do that?" I gave a small shrug. "I don´t really remember… I was only 12…" Suddenly the machine got silent and I felt him wipe off my neck before saying. "It´s done." I eagerly jumped off the chair and took a look in the mirror. Kakuzu held up a small mirror for me to look in and I smiled at how beautifully the tattoo covered up the scar. "It´s perfect." I told him with a smile.

On impulse, I gave him a quick hug around the middle before looking up at him with begging eyes. "Would it be possible for me to get a really small tattoo without disturbing Sasori for permission?" I asked him, making my eyes as big as possible.

He seemed to be fighting with himself for a while before his shoulders sagged slightly and he said to me. "If he finds out and disapproves, he will kill me…" I smiled at him, bigger this time. "I promise I´ll protect you."

He smiled in return before sitting back down, asking me what I wanted. "I want to get the word hope on my hipbone." I told him and he changed the needle in the machine before putting out more black ink and reclining the chair into a table for me to lie down on.

On the way out I showed Pein the cloud on my neck, but I didn´t show him the word. That one was my own little secret. During the car ride back to the house Kakuzu told me that I should avoid swimming in the pool for a few days because of the tattoos, and now I was wondering what to use for excuse if Hidan asked to continue my lessons. But Hidans car was gone when we came home so it didn´t seem like I had to worry about it tonight.

I was a bit sore from the sparring last night but decided to train again tonight anyway, since all of the guys were out for a bar night. Konan had tried to stay at home with me since I wasn´t old enough to go out but I had convinced her to go with them, telling her I was big enough to be home alone for a night.

I wore a similar training outfit as last night and cranked up the volume on the sound system before running my usual 8 miles. After I was done with that I went over to a machine and started lifting weights.

"Hey Blossom, what are you doing un?" I dropped the weights in surprise as Deidara entered the gym. "Dei you´re back!" I more or less yelled before hugging him to me. "Yeah I am un, where´s the other guys?" He asked while hugging me back. "They are out on some bar somewhere… Is Sasori alright?" "And they all just left you here? Yeah he´s fine, bitching about how they won´t let him go home just yet." I nodded. "That´s good…" Deidara looked at me before asking me for the second time. "Yeah but why did they leave you here alone?" "Because I´m not old enough stupid." I told him with a smile. He blushed and turned his gaze away for a moment before saying. "Oh, right, I forgot that, un." I noticed he was wearing sweatpants and an old navy t-shirt and asked him with mischief sparkling in my eyes. "You want to spar?"

At first he only stared at me as if I suddenly had grew a second head or something before a smile grazed his lips and he nodded his consent. "Sure about that Blossom?" I nodded, eager to get started.

"I don´t pull my punches." I warned him just as I had warned Hidan. We stretched before laying out the same mats Hidan and I used last night. Deidara only gave me a look that told me he didn´t thought I had a chance at beating him. If he only knew I beat Hidans ass last night.

We started circling each other and I pretended to barely be able to block Deidaras punches making him believe he could win this easily. "This is all you´ve learned from those krav maga classes? You should ask for a refund, un." I only smiled at him before taking him down in only two moves. Deidara was completely unprepared for that and he fell onto the mats with me on top of him. Much like me and Hidan did actually…

"You still think I should ask for a refund?" I asked him while trying to hide my smile. He only shook his head, saying. "And here I thought I would win this… You´re a good fighter blossom, Pein asked you to join yet?" I froze, panic slowly filling me. "Why would Pein ask me to join?" He met my gaze and told me. "Don´t play stupid Blossom, I can tell by your reaction that he has already asked you to join. What´s going on, un?" I hung my head and he sat up so that I was sitting in his lap with a leg on each side of his hips. He let his forehead rest against mine as he waited for an answer.

"Yes he asked me to join…" I admitted. "And you haven´t told anyone." Deidara concluded. "Why?" I sat silent for a while, thinking about how to answer without him realizing that I was already in the Akatsuki.

"Do you think Sasori would be mad at me?" "If you joined us or if you said no?" "Both."

He seemed to think about my question for a while before answering me. "If you joined us, he would be happy and at the same time scared that you´ll get hurt. And if you don´t join, he will be relieved since you´ll not be in the same danger but at the same time he will be sad since he will not see you as much." I thought about what he had told me and decided I didn´t want to lie to him.

I hugged him and said. "Thanks Dei… I´m sorry I didn´t tell you but I kind of decided what to do when Pein asked me last night after he saw me take down Hidan." Deidara looked at me with excitement in his eyes. "Well what did you say? I pulled away my hair and because I was hugging him, he could easily see my new tattoo.

"You joined! Wait did you say you took down Hidan in hand to hand combat?" I nodded yes and asked him not to tell anyone I had joined. "I want to get better at things before I tell the others, the only ones who know are Pein and Kakuzu and I want it to stay that way until I say otherwise." I told him, my voice firm. "Will you be able to not tell my brother about this?" I asked him, my voice becoming soft. "Why wouldn´t I?" I only looked at him, a tiny bit of sadness in my eyes that I hoped he couldn´t see.

"Because you´re in love with my brother Dei…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Nine**

Recap: "Because you´re in love with my brother Dei…"

He stared at me with wide eyes, before he unexpectedly pushed me off of him and stalked out of the room. I thought I saw tears in his eyes.

I sat at the floor shocked, until what just happened became reality.

I had pushed him to far in my eagerness to get him and my brother together and now he hated me. I didn´t feel the tears that fell down my cheeks but I saw them in the mirror in my bathroom.

Pain clawed at the inside of my chest, trying to find a way out. I desperately started to search for my knives and razors only to remember that Kakuzu had made me throw all of them away. In that moment I hated Kakuzu.

I knew there were no sharp things in my room so I started to search Hidans. I emptied the contents of his drawers on the floor and then threw out everything in his closet. And still there were no sharp things in my sight.

I abandoned Hidans room and went to Kakuzus since his was in the same hallway as ours. I did the same search in his room without finding anything so I ventured into his bathroom. My eyes immediately locked on the disposable razor on the sink and a smile grazed my lips despite the tears that still fell from my eyes. I quickly dissembled the razor and giggled in happiness when I had the razorblade in my hand.

For a moment I felt bad, I had after all promised them to try and stop doing this… But I shrugged it off and put the thin, sharp blade against my arm making a small trickle of blood appear. But after a few cuts I still didn´t feel my sought after relief from the pain trying to claw its way out of my chest. I dropped the razor and dragged myself over to Kakuzus bed where I broke down sobbing, clawing at my chest.

I suddenly remembered bringing my cellphone with me into Kakuzus room and picked it up from the floor with a shaking hand. I dialed the first number I could find and waited as the signals beeped in my ear.

"Hi Cherry!" Hidans voice immediately brought on a new wave of tears and I choked on the sobs, trying to hold them back. "Cherry what´s wrong?" He now sounded worried and I more or less begged him. "Could you (sob) and Kakuzu please (sob) come home? (sob) But don´t (sob) tell the others!" "We´re on our way." He told me and I hung up on him despite him asking me what´s happened. I clawed at my chest even more, making slow trickles of blood appear as the pain inside refused to let down and I clutched one of Kakuzus pillows against me, seeking comfort.

After what felt like hours but only could have been like fifteen minutes I heard my name being called in the corridor. The voice sounded worried but my voice was raw from crying and didn´t work properly.

I didn´t have to wait long before the two familiar silhouettes appeared in the doorway searching for me.

"Oh Cherry…" Hidan whispered and I reached out for him, making him sit down on the bed with me and hold me against him. I clung to Hidan and reached for Kakuzu with my free arm, he looked surprised but joined us on the bed, stroking my back as I cried against Hidans chest.

Hidan and Kakuzu soon lied down on the bed with me between them, both of them doing their best to comfort me. And finally, with Hidans and Kakuzus hard, warm bodies on each side of me and their arms around me, the pain in my chest subsided.

I realized that Hidan and Kakuzu must be quite close friends since neither of them seemed to be bothered by lying in the same bed with me and that calmed me even more. "You two are close friends are you not?" I asked them in a raspy whisper.

"Yeah I guess… We are partners in Akatsuki and we were partners in the navy." Hidan explained to me. All of us were silent for a while longer before Kakuzu asked me.

"What happened Sakura?" I sighed and explained the mess with Deidara and wanting to cut myself but not getting any relief from it. The only thing I didn´t tell was about me being in the Akatsuki, I still hoped Deidara wouldn´t say anything about that.

"I think Deidara is just scared, they have probably hidden this for a long time and are afraid of what the others will think…" Hidan told me after a while. "Yeah, and if they haven´t even told each other it´s no wonder he got scared… But I´m sure he doesn´t hate you." Kakuzu said, agreeing with Hidan.

"I hope you two are right… If you´re not I might just have destroyed both Deidara and my brother…" I said before falling asleep with my head on Hidans chest, my arm over his stomach and Kakuzus chest against my back.

The next morning I woke up to Hidan and Kakuzu talking in low voices. "How do you feel about her reaching out for me as well last night Hidan?" Kakuzu asked somewhat hesitantly. "Do not go all fucking psychiatrist on me man…" Hidan growled back. "Quit that stupid shit you dumbass, I know you have a thing for her." Hidan didn´t answer that. "Look I just want you to know that I only see her as a little sister man, you have nothing to fear from me. But I will help her and if she wants me near I´m not going to stay away." Kakuzu said and my heart got all warm at hearing that. "Thanks man, I know I have nothing to fear from any of the guys, they all told me." Hidan answered softly, not all as he usually was with the guys. "Then why haven´t you told her?" Kakuzus voice had also softened, obviously another sign of how close these two was.

"Because I´m scared I will scare her away… Or getting her in more trouble, you know I have enemies." He told Kakuzu sounding almost… sad?

I figured now was a good time to wake up so I yawned and stretched before slowly opening my eyes, meeting Hidans beautiful violet ones and Kakuzus serene green and red ones. "Morning guys." I said and gave them a shy smile.

After a few apologies about the mess I made I was ushered into mine and Hidans bathroom to take a shower as the boys cleaned up my messes. I dressed in a pair of dark navy cargo pants and a simple black t-shirt before putting my hair in a high ponytail.

Instead of going to the kitchen as I first had planned I soon found myself outside of Deidaras room, hesitating.

I finally mustered up enough courage to knock but was only rewarded with a grumpy "Go away". But instead of doing just that I tried to open the door only to find it locked. I wasn´t going to let that stop me so I silently asked for forgiveness as I pulled a hair pin from my ponytail and used it to pick the lock.

Once I heard the click of the door unlocking it was flung open and a seething Deidara stood before me. "I think I told you to…" He cut himself off as he saw that it was me standing outside his door and not one of the others.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" He asked me, clearly not happy to see me. "I… I came to say I´m sorry…" I told him, head down and tears burning in my eyes.

He didn´t say anything but he pulled me into his room and relocked the door behind me. He stood still and silent for so long that I dared to take a peek at him. What I saw was not what I had expected.

He was crying.

Not the sobbing crying I so often did, but a silent crying. The only sign were the tears that found their way down his face.

I gently brushed away his tears and then enveloped him in a tight hug as I repeatedly whispered "I´m so sorry" in his ear. When he finally looked at me his eyes were red and the sorrow in them so clear that it almost made me cry as well.

"You don´t have to be scared, I promise." I told him and some more tears fell from his eyes. "No one here will judge you, they are your friends, they will only be happy for you." He finally hugged me back and whispered. "You can´t be sure of that… and besides I´m not even sure if he feels the same way…" "But I know he does, and I also know that no one will judge you. Have anyone judged me about the rape? Or the abuse? Or the cutting?" He looked at me with wary eyes. "That´s not the same thing Blossom…" "Yes it is, you are just too stubborn to see it." I said, happy to hear that my nickname was back. He gave me a small smile and I put a strand of his hair behind his ear. "Get dressed, we´re going to visit Sasori after breakfast."

The car ride with Deidara in his blue and white Trans-am was tense but not uncomfortable but when we arrived at the hospital he didn´t want to go inside.

"Please Dei, trust me on this one. Everything is going to be fine, just as telling all the others at breakfast went fine." I had asked everyone at breakfast if anyone would think less of him if he were gay and just as I predicted not one would treat him differently. The relief in Deidaras eyes was almost touchable.

"Fine but if this goes wrong I will never forgive you Sakura." I knew he wasn´t kidding but I was sure it would go well. It would simply have to go well.

"Hey Sori, how are you doing?" I asked him when we entered. "Fine but they still won´t let me go home…" He was sulking just as Deidara but even without them knowing it, I was going to make them both very happy.

"Okay I´m tired of sulking boys so I´m going to be blunt with you Sori." I told him, Deidaras eyes widening.

"You´re gay, right?" I asked him and he was too shocked to even blush as he nodded yes. "And you love Dei, right?" This time he did blush and avoided our gazes as he once again nodded. "Then my work here is done." I announced and left them alone in the room, calling for Hidan to come pick me up.

After that day the weeks went fast, I got really good at shooting and Pein switched to teach me about knives. Apparently I was a natural at that and especially with throwing knives. I finished my lessons with Kakuzu and was now feeling confident in that I could be of use if there was to be an accident. Our talking sessions had gone smoothly and by now I had told him all of my worst memories.

I still got nightmares sometimes but not as often and the panic-attacks were fewer as well. I was no longer afraid of strangers. All of the gang became my best friends but Hidan and I became something more, a tension between us that both frightened and excited me.

My swimming lessons were a success and Itachi had deemed me a good enough swimmer. I also kept sparring with the guys, getting even stronger and more confident. Sasori got back from the hospital and he and Deidara taught me how to drive.

But I still hadn´t told them that I was a member in the Akatsuki and now they were starting to complain to Pein that he hadn´t asked me to join yet.

If they only knew.

But now I felt it was time for them to know and I asked to speak with Pein. "Please tell me that we can tell them you are a member soon? They´re driving me crazy…" Pein said before I´d gotten the chance to tell him anything.

"I thought that maybe we could tell them tomorrow at breakfast? I´ll tell Hidan tonight since he´s staying here with me." All I got from Pein was a small, barely visible smile and he said. "Sounds good Sakura." Then he was out of the door and all of the gang except me and Hidan were off to another bar night.

Hidan hadn´t wanted to leave me alone so he and I planned to have a movie night instead. Apparently he wanted me to get some more nightmares since he had picked the movie "paranormal activity 4" for us to watch.

I heard popcorn popping in the kitchen and sunk down on the couch, waiting for him to finish. I didn´t have to wait long.

"You ready for this Cherry?" He asked me as he pressed play on the remote. "That you will have to find out for yourself." I teased him and snuggled closer, preparing for the fright I was sure to get.

"You might regret saying that…" He told me with his lips against my temple, I shivered and it made him chuckle.

As we watched the movie it started to rain outside and soon thunder echoed in the distance. I screamed when something sudden happened in the movie and thunder was heard again, closer this time. I had long since abandoned my seat next to Hidan for my new one in between his legs, clinging to his shirtfront. Thunder was heard again, this time almost on top off us and suddenly the whole house went dark.

I shivered even though I was in Hidans embrace, I had been afraid of thunder my whole life, even since before Sasori left me. And Hidan knew that. "It´s alright Cherry, it´s just thunder."

"I… I… Know…" I told him, I knew my fear of thunder was irrational. "Come on Cherry, let´s get you into bed." He told me before picking me up and carrying me to my bedroom.

He lit some of my scented candles and a flickering light filled the room as well as the scent of apples and vanilla and that´s when I got a great idea. "Hey let´s do a sleepover Hidan!" I told him excitedly. "Have you gone completely fucking crazy Cherry? I´m a guy and guys don´t do fucking sleepovers." He told me.

I had gotten used to his cussing and it no longer bothered me, which was lucky since he constantly fell back into that habit.

"Please?" I asked him and I knew he couldn´t tell me no. "Fine." I ushered him into his own bedroom to change into pajamas. While he was gone I put on a pair of black short shorts and a white midriff top with bold black letters forming the word "ANBU" over the chest to use as a pajama.

As soon as Hidan returned I forced him to sit on the bed as I crawled up behind him to braid his hair. "The fuck are you doing?" He asked me as I started to tread my fingers through his silky hair. I didn´t answer him, instead I tried massaging his scalp to shut him up.

It worked.

When I looked at him he had his eyes closed and a smile on his lips, he was clearly enjoying this. But just as I was going to start braiding he pulled away and sat behind me, returning the favor.

His hands in my hair felt amazing.

But when he pulled my hair to the side and then froze I realized my mistake, now he could clearly see the tattoo I had hidden for almost two months.

"Hidan I´m sorry! I…" I tried to turn around and face him but he held me against his chest hard enough to stop me. "Quiet." He said and I immediately shut up, preparing for him to be angry with me.

To say that I was shocked when he instead pressed a kiss against the cloud on my neck doesn´t even begin to cover it.

When I tried to turn around the next time he didn´t stop me. I looked up at him with eyes that must´ve been bigger than the moon outside and he kissed me again, this time on the mouth.

His lips were surprisingly soft against mine.

I gasped and he took the opportunity to slid his tongue inside my mouth, one of his hands nestling itself in my hair, the other one snaking around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

When he broke up for breath I was panting hard and clinging to his wide shoulders for support. He only smirked at me before recapturing my lips in another searing kiss. I felt the hard planes of his chest under my hands, the muscles tight as bowstrings. My hands slid down to his taunting abs almost of their own accord and I felt the muscles tighten even more under my touch.

Lucky (or unlucky) for me, the others came home then and Hidan and I flew apart. We looked at each other for a few seconds before smiling at the same time. Hidan leaned forward, pressed a kiss to my forehead, telling me.

"Sweet dreams Cherry" Before turning to leave. Right before he closed the bathroom door I told him. "Sweet dreams Hidan, I love you…" The door stopped moving and I held my breath.

"Love you to Cherry."

I smiled as the door closed between us.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Ten**

After Pein announced that I already had been a member of the Akatsuki for two months the next morning, chaos broke out.

All except Pein, Kakuzu, Deidara, Hidan and Sasori were talking loudly enough to give the neighbors headaches. Pein, Kakuzu, Deidara and Hidan were silent because they already knew, Sasori was silent because he hadn´t taken his eyes off of me. As Pein, Kakuzu, Deidara and Hidan tried to answer the questions from the others; Sasori got up and dragged me out of the kitchen with a hard grip on my arm.

As he dragged me towards his bedroom I started to get nervous, he still hadn´t uttered a word. He more or less threw me on the bed and now I was scared for real, he was to violent not to scare me.

He actually reminded me of our father right now.

"Sori…" I started but got cut off. "Why didn´t you tell me?" And I realized that he wasn´t angry, he was upset. "You were in the hospital when Pein asked me and… and I was afraid that you´d get angry with me…" I told him, eyes to the ground. He sighed. "I wouldn´t get angry… I just wish I knew this before…" He said, leaning on the wall. I got up from the bed and gave him a hug. "Sorry Sori." I told him and he gave me a small smile. "You want to see my tattoo?" I asked him and when he nodded I turned around and moved my hair out of the way. "It´s beautiful." He told me and I knew we were okay again.

That same night Pein called me to the office, apparently something was going on since he had sent out Hidan and Kakuzu and Kisame and Itachi during the day. When I arrived at the office, Sasori and Deidara were there and apparently waiting for me. "What´s going on?" I asked them. "Not sure, but something big is about to happen since Pein is sending out three teams." Deidara told me.

The door opened and Pein entered with a troubled face. I tensed up instinctively knowing something was wrong.

"What´s happening un?" Deidara asked and Pein sighed before answering. "I´m not sure… there´s a lot of movement on the borders but nothing´s happened yet. It´s confusing."

"Anyway I need the three of you out on patrol by the western border, stick together and be careful. Itachi and Kisame are at the north border and Hidan and Kakuzu are patrolling the eastern one." We all nodded before going down into the basement to gear up.

They hadn´t showed me the basement until very recently, it had a big, heavy security door and a code lock. The inside was just as secure with no windows and camera surveillance. At first I didn´t think they had anything that could possibly need this much security, but boy was I wrong…

Inside the basement were weapons of all kinds as well as a large array of blades and Kevlar vests. There was also a large box of different bombs that clearly belonged to Deidara as well as some other random things.

When we left the basement all three of us were wearing Kevlar under our shirts and the weapons of our flavor. I had a small handgun at the small of my back and a couple of knives hidden on my body.

We all got into a big black suv and headed to our designated area, no one talking all of us preparing for a routine patrol that might not be routine at all.

We parked the car and then did our round, constantly prepared for something to happen.

But nothing did.

And after a couple hours Pein called us and told us that the other teams were heading back and that we should too. Not one team had seen anything suspicious and that´s exactly what had me on the edge.

Not once before had all the teams sent out found absolutely nothing.

Something was going on.

We were headed back to the car now but I got the feeling that someone was watching me so I stopped. "Is something wrong Sakura?" Sasori asked me stopping as well. "I got a feeling that someone is watching me…" I told him and looked behind me.

"It´s probably nothing… let´s go home now un." Deidara said and we started walking back to the car again. When we were almost at the car I saw a small blinking red light from underneath the car and I froze on the spot.

"Run!" I yelled at Sasori and Deidara and then grabbed both of their hands before running back the way we came from. But we hadn´t got far away when the car suddenly exploded, the shockwave lifting us from the ground.

I lost my grip on the boys hands when we were airborne but I soon landed hard on the ground, knocking the air out of me. Parts of the car dropped down beside me and I shielded my head with my arms.

Adrenaline was running through me numbing the pain I was sure to feel later, I could tell I had some burns and bruises, probably some cuts too.

I got to my feet only to see us surrounded by sound members in black clothes. Thankfully neither Orochimaru nor Sasuke were with them. Both Sasori and Deidara were on their feet beside me looking a bit banged up but okay.

"You okay?" Sasori asked me and I nodded. "Yes, can we take these guys down?" I didn´t get an answer so I assumed that he didn´t know if we could or not. "Don´t worry Blossom, when the car blew up its signal disappeared so Pein will send out a team or two to investigate if he can´t reach us by phone." Deidara whispered to me and I nodded. "Then we´ll just have to manage until then." I concluded and took my fighting stance.

We were clearly outnumbered but I kept my cool, I knew backup was only minutes away and I was not going to panic. One of the sound guys stepped forward, probably the leader of this group.

"Hand over the girl and no one have to get hurt." He said in a calm voice. "No." Was Sasoris simple answer. The man frowned. "Then I guess we have to take her by force." He gave the other guys a hand signal and they attacked.

I felt confident that as long as no guns showed up Sasori and Deidara would be fine so I concentrated on fighting the three guys that were attacking me.

I dodged a punch aimed at my throat and used the guy as leverage to get in a powerful kick to the one next to him who went down easily. I saw in the corner of my eye how Deidara fought with three guys and another one creeping up on him from behind so I hurled one of my hidden knives and lodged it in that guys back.

Deidara shouted a thank you to me and I went back to fighting, barely dodging a kick to the stomach. I took down another guy and looked around to see that we had taken down more than half of the group attacking us.

I heard two car engines closing in on us and the leader of the group yelled at his remaining men. "Let´s get out of here!" Then he pulled a gun and shot me in the chest.

I was thrown back at the force of the bullet, lying on my back I struggled to catch my breath as pain radiated through me. I heard footsteps approaching fast and suddenly Kisames worried face was hovering over me.

"Where did you get hit?" He asked me and I wheezed out. "Chest." He immediately ripped open my shirt and relief filled his eyes as he said. "The bullet is in the vest, you´re okay."

I was able to breathe again and he helped me to my feet were he took a closer look at me. "Damn kitten you look like hell." I looked down at myself and had to agree with him. My clothes were burned and tattered, I had scrape wounds on my knees and hands and minor burns on my face and arms. I was starting to get bruises and despite the bullet being caught in the Kevlar it hurt like hell.

"Yeah well the night went downhill after the car exploded." I said and he burst out laughing. Suddenly I was surrounded by Deidara, Sasori and Itachi all of them looking at me worriedly but I just pointed to the shiny bullet in my vest, telling them. "See? I´m fine."

They all visibly relaxed and then Kisame picked me up, carrying me to the car. "I can walk on my own you know." I told him but he just sat me in the backseat before sliding in after me. "I know." Was his simple answer and then the other guys got in the car and we were finally on our way home.

Now that the adrenaline had left my body I felt how tired I was, and how much everything hurt… By the looks of Deidara and Sasori I was pretty sure they felt about the same as me. We pulled up in front of the house to see that all the others were outside, waiting for us.

By Kakuzus and Konans tense statures I guessed that no one had thought of calling them, telling them we were alright. Or maybe it was just standard procedure, I didn´t know. But as soon as Kisame helped me out of the car Kakuzu picked me up and carried me inside the house closely followed by Kisame and Hidan. I looked behind us to see Sasori and Deidara being whisked away by Konan, Pein and Itachi so maybe there was some kind of standard procedure…

Kakuzu brought me to my bedroom and sat me down on the bed telling me to not to move. I shot a questioning glance at Kisame and Hidan as Kakuzu left the room and Kisame answered me. "When something happens you don´t get to do anything until you´re cleared by Kakuzu or Konan. It´s really just in case there some serious injury that hasn´t showed itself." I nodded. "So I can´t shower or take of the vest or anything until Kakuzu says its fine?" "That´s right." He told me and smiled. I only sighed but luckily Kakuzu came back at that moment.

He looked at me, a serious expression on his face and he asked me. "Where did the bullet hit?" I saw Hidan stiffen at that, guess he hadn´t realized why my shirt was torn open. "Here." I said and pointed at the small shiny bullet that was lodged in the vest. If the vest hadn´t stopped it would have gone thru my chest between my breasts.

"Do you wear a bra under the vest?" Kakuzu asked and I felt myself blush as I nodded. "Good then you can remove the vest." I looked up to see Kisame with a slight blush making his cheeks tinged a light purple and I gave him a small smile as I started to unclasp the vest with fumbling fingers.

When I finally got the stupid vest off I heard Hidan and Kisame gasp and I looked down to see a huge bruise between my breasts. Kakuzu frowned and then gently started prodding the bruise, I winced every now and then but he concluded that it hadn´t done any real damage at least. He then took care of my burns and cuts and scrapes before telling me that I could shower and go to bed but to call him if I started bleeding or getting trouble breathing. I only nodded and then he and Kisame left.

Hidan still hadn´t said anything and he didn´t show any intent of moving soon so I asked him. "Hidan, are you okay?" He looked at me and said. "Yeah… Just thinking about what could´ve happened." "Well I´m fine, see?" I told him and took his hand so that he could feel that the bullet hadn´t hurt me. He blushed and took his hand back and that´s when I realized what I had done. I had basically _forced_ him to feel me up!

I blushed as well then stood up with the words. "I´m going to shower." Before I fled to the bathroom. But as I barely got my clothes off due to the pain in my body I realized that showering was going to be a problem. I wrapped myself in a towel before going back into my bedroom, finding Hidan sitting on the bed where I left him.

"Hidan? Can you help me?" I asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts. He gave me a questioning look and I explained my problem. "If I put on a bikini, could you help me shower? My whole body hurts…" "Of course I´ll help you." He cut me off and stood up. "I´m just going to put on some swim shorts." He told me and disappeared into his own room.

A few minutes later I had managed to get myself into a simple peach colored bikini and reentered the bathroom only to find Hidan already in the shower, his muscled back against me.

I dropped the towel and joined him in the shower; he turned around just in time to catch me as I tripped over the low threshold. He caught me and said, probably without thinking. "Jashin, you are clumsier than bambi on ice." I laughed despite the pain in my chest and told him. "Glad to have you back, I don´t really like the silent you." Earning a weak smile in return.

He then proceeded to wash my hair with gentle hands, making me feel as if I could fall asleep right there on the spot. My head fell back against his shoulder as he rinsed my hair from the lasts suds, apparently startling him as he gripped me around the waist. "Is everything alright? You´re not feeling dizzy are you?" He asked me, worry lacing his voice.

"No I´m just tired." I told him and I felt him smile against my neck. "Then I better get you tucked into bed." He replied and turned off the water. He then wrapped me in a towel before carrying me into my bedroom and handing me my pajamas and clean underwear before leaving me alone to change.

Funny how he was bothered by me making him touch my chest but not by going through my underwear drawer.

I dried myself and managed to get myself in my pajamas even though it took some time. By the time I called to Hidan that I was dressed he had already asked me if I needed help four times.

He took away my wet towel before getting me under the covers and turning off the lights. "Sweet dreams Cherry." He told me before closing the door but by then I was already sleeping.

When morning came, I woke to pain. My whole body hurt so bad I could barely move. I groaned then lied back down on the bed, I wouldn´t go anywhere today apparently. I mean, I knew it was going to hurt but this was ridiculous. I knock was heard from the door before Konan entered. "You ready for some breakfast?" She asked me and I sighed. "I would love some breakfast, I´m starving. But I don´t think I can get out of bed."

"You´re hurting that much?" She asked with a slight frown. I only nodded. "Well roll over on your stomach then and I´ll see what I can do to help." She told me with a smile and I did as she asked making the giant bruise on my chest hurt more but if she could ease some of the pain from my muscles it would be worth it.

She help pull off my shirt and then undid my bra so that she could work directly on my bare back. As she started softening up my tense muscles small groans of both pain and pleasure escaped me. "What the fuck are you two doing?"

It was Hidans voice and it came from the doorway, he was looking at us not like he didn´t know if he should laugh or ask for a free show. "I´m trying to make it possible for Sakura to get out of bed." She answered while silently daring him to ask for a show.

He didn´t say anything else but I could feel his gaze on me, or at least until Konan said. "Hidan can you go and fetch Pein please? I don´t think I can fix this on my own…" "Sure, I´ll be right back." He answered before he left us. "Do these things happen to you guys as well or is it just me?" I asked Konan as she got off me. "Oh it happens to all of us, after a few times you will feel it before your muscles locks themselves and then you can get a massage from one of us to prevent this." She explained to me and I immediately felt better.

"Everyone can give massages at this place?" I asked her. That was one thing I hadn´t expected. "Yes, but not all can fix it when it becomes like this. When you´re as tense as you are now only Pein can fix it." She told me right before there was a knock on my door and Pein entered my bedroom.

"I hear you have a problem with moving?" He asked me, a small smile on his lips. "Yeah, the problem is that I can´t." I answered confidently before Konan stood up and said. "Well I´m going to make the boys breakfast for now, I´ll save some for you and Sakura." She then gave Pein a light kiss on the cheek before leaving us two alone in my bedroom.

Now I was nervous.

But Pein seemed just as confident as normal when he climbed onto my bed and straddled me, sitting on my thighs, one knee on each side of my hips. Then he pressed on one of my painfully tense muscles, making me wince. "Hmm I see why Konan couldn´t fix this…" He mumbled to himself before he started working his magic on my back.

It took him nearly an hour but when he was done I could move again and without extreme pain so I was quite thankful. He even redid my bra without making a fuzz over it. But when I rolled over on my back before getting up I flashed him the huge bruise on my chest as well as some cleavage.

He actually managed to look at the bruise without making me feel like he was ogling my boobs.

"I´m buying more of those Kevlar vests." He announced before leaving my bedroom so that I could get dressed.

When I entered the kitchen a few minutes later I was dressed in a pair of jeans shorts and a simple white t-shirt that was so big on me that it hung off one shoulder. I grabbed some of the food that was waiting for me before sitting down at the table where Sasori, Deidara and Itachi already sat.

I expected Sasori to fuzz over me but when he barely even looked at me I got nervous. "What´s happening?" I asked them, letting them know that I knew something was going on. "We got a mission Blossom… A long one, un…" Deidara told me. So that´s why they were so serious. "When are you leaving?" I asked them next. "Tonight." Came Itachis short answer. "And how long will you be gone?" This time Sasori looked me in the eyes before answering. "Probably around two months."

That night I sat on Sasoris bed as he packed, he was worried that something would happen when he and the others were away. "Promise me that you won´t go off on your own and that you´re careful. I don´t want to come to a sister that is dead or injured." He told me but instead of answering him I stood up and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. "I´ll be fine Sori… Just make sure that you´ll come back to me. All three of you." We stood silent for a while before a knock on the door told us that it was time for him to go.

I followed him to the garage where I immediately flung myself at Deidara, enveloping him in a tight hug. "Take care of each other and come back to me." I whispered in his ear and he hugged me tighter for a moment before letting me go. "We´ll do." He promised me before getting in the car.

Then I turned to Itachi and gave him an equally tight hug. "Be careful and come back, I´ll miss you guys." I whispered to him and he gave me a light flick on the forehead before getting in the car with Deidara.

At last I once again hugged Sasori to me tightly before whispering to him. "Don´t get killed, come back to me, I love you Sori." He only pressed a light kiss on top of my head before getting in the car and disappearing into the night.

I didn´t even notice that I was crying.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Eleven**

I didn´t sleep much the night after Sasori and the others left, I was mostly crying so the morning after my eyes were red and puffy. But that didn´t stop Konan from suggesting that we should go shopping.

It was kind of sweet of her and probably her way of making me think of something else so I agreed to going. I was also trying very hard not to think of how our last shopping trip ended.

But when we pulled into the parking lot at the mall I was not nervous, instead I had gotten a great idea. I wanted to give my room a makeover. I told Konan my idea and explained it to her. "It´s not that I don´t like it the way it is because I do. But at the same time I feel that I no longer need a room that is clearly made with the purpose of healing. I feel like I need something different now…" She nodded then and I knew that I had managed to convince her.

After we had bought paint, we bought some new bedding, lamps and some other stuff. Then we shopped for some clothes and shoes before taking a break for food. While we ate our sushi I kept staring at a jewelry store that had some absolutely awesome stuff in their window.

I pointed it out for Konan and she told me. "Yeah they have pretty good stuff; they do piercings and tattoos as well. I kind of know the owner Temari. She and her two brothers are running the place." I pondered that for a while before asking her. "Do you think I could get another piercing?" "Sure but why don't you ask Pein to do it?" She asked me and I blushed a bit. "Well I was thinking of getting a nipple piercing and I wouldn´t be comfortable with him doing that." I told her. Konan just looked at me, mouth slightly open and asked me. "You want a _nipple piercing?_"

I nodded eagerly and she laughed. "Well let´s go talk to Temari then." We quickly finished our meal and went inside the small shop named "the sand coffin".

"Hey Temari!" Konan yelled and a women with dirty blond hair in four ponytails looked up. "Hey Konan, what´s up?" She asked casually in a slightly raspy voice as her teal eyes were focused on me.

"My friend Sakura wish to get a nipple piercing." She told her happily and Temari gestured at us to follow her into a small room. "You the Sakura that Sound is looking for?" She asked me as she showed me the jewelry available. I only nodded and picked a jewelry that looked like an arrow going through my nipple.

Her statement made me nervous, would she tell Sound about me? But just before she did the piercing she told me. "Don´t worry, I won´t tell about you. Sound tried to hurt my baby brother Gaara."

I walked out of the shop with both a new piercing and Temaris number in my phone, thinking that maybe I had just gotten a new friend as well.

We were on our way to the car when the one and only Sasuke showed up in front of us, his own little crew in tow. At seeing him I didn´t froze up as last time, instead I merely felt annoyed.

"What do you want Sasuke?" I asked him, surprising both him and Konan. "Hn, you´re still clinging to the Akatsuki I see. You will regret that, you know." He told me, a smirk on his lips. "I doubt that." Was my simple answer while keeping tabs on the big guy Jugo that was sneaking up behind me.

Suddenly the other guy, Suigetsu, lunged toward me but I sidestepped him and then spun around, delivering a hard roundhouse kick to Jugos head, knocking him unconscious. Suigetsu tried to punch me but I sidestepped him once more and was just about to knock him out when the sound of someone cocking a gun reached me. I froze and slowly turned around.

Sasuke was holding a gun pressed against Konans head.

"If you come with me, I won´t kill your friend." He told me, his smirk gone and his eyes ice cold. I knew he was lying and I tried to come up with a plan that didn´t involve me or Konan getting shot.

"I will come with you if you let Konan go to our car." I told him, voice steady. Sasuke stared at me trying to figure out if he could trust me or not. "Fine, but Suigetsu and Karin are restraining you until she gets there." He said and I nodded. Konan looked at me as she walked past but I didn´t dare to give her a sign of my plan, I was hoping she would get it anyway.

As soon as Konan closed the car door of her car, Suigetsus grip on me tightened as Sasuke said. "Karin get Jugo in the car, we´re leaving." As soon as she let go of me, Suigetsu moved to stand directly behind me so he would get a better grip on me. That was exactly what I was hoping for.

I leaned forward as far as I could without falling and kicked backwards and upwards, hitting Suigetsu exactly where it hurts the most. He let go of me with a cry of pain, making the bitch Karin turn around. I punched her in the face, effectively knocking her out as well.

I turned to look for Sasuke when he grabbed my arm, hard. I knew I was getting bruises but that didn´t stop me from trying to get away. He tightened his hold on my upper arm before throwing me against a car with enough force to shatter the window. I felt my right shoulder dislocate and bit back a scream of pain.

Sasuke leaned against me, trapping me against the car. "Don´t make me angry with you, you don´t want that." He whispered in my ear and I shuddered.

The sound of an engine revving caught his attention and as he looked to the side I kicked him between the legs making him lose his grip on me. Then I ran.

Konan opened the passenger door for me and as soon as I was in the car she pulled out of the parking lot. Neither of us said anything for a couple of minutes but then I told her. "That was the last time you and me went to the mall alone." At that she only looked at me before both of us started laughing.

"Are you okay?" She asked me when we had calmed down. I nodded. "Yeah, just some bruises and a dislocated shoulder." "You dislocated your shoulder?" She asked worriedly. "Yeah, but that has happened quite a few times, don´t worry. I´ll just need help popping it back into place." She seemed to accept that explanation but still drove a little faster.

When we arrived home she insisted that I should wait in the car so she could go and get Kakuzu. I told her that I could walk on my own just fine but she was already in the house by then.

I sighed and leaned against the car, I knew that if I didn´t obey her things could get ugly. But when she came back it was with Hidan and Kisame instead of Kakuzu.

I raised one eyebrow in question and she answered irritated. "It seems like Kakuzu is down by the shop." I sighed. "I told you I don´t specifically need Kakuzus help, I bet Kisame could do it, or Hidan." I told her.

"Wait, slow down kitten. What exactly happened?" Kisame asked and I only looked at Konan. "You didn´t tell them?" She shook her head no. I sighed again before telling Kisame and Hidan what had happened in the parking lot. When I was done both of them were staring at me in disbelief.

"Your shoulder is dislocated? Doesn´t that hurt like a bitch?" Kisame asked. "Yeah it hurts like hell." The answer came from Hidan, who obviously had dislocated something before. I on the other hand only shrugged with my good shoulder and said. "Not so bad if you do it enough times." Neither of them answered that.

"Konan can you please go get some pain relieving cream from Kakuzus room?" Hidan asked her and she immediately disappeared inside the house. He then turned to me and said. "That should keep her away for a little while. Do you think you can get out of your shirt or shall we cut it?" He asked me and I realized that he probably intended to pop my shoulder back into place without having Konan watching it.

"Cut it." I told them and Kisame pulled out a small knife and cut my shirt open. At least I had on a nice black, lace bra today. Both of them then took a look at my shoulder and both of them cringed at the look of it. "Damn kitten…" Was Kisames reaction. Hidan gently felt around my shoulder without me making a noise before nodding and telling me.

"I can pop it back if you want me to, or we can call Kakuzu and tell him to come home and fix it." I didn´t even think about it before answering. "You can fix it."

He positioned himself behind me and took a hold of my arm and shoulder. "You ready Cherry?" He asked me, concern just barely detectable in his voice. I smiled at Kisame before telling him. "Bring it on." The noise of my shoulder popping back into place made Kisame cringe but I just clenched my jaw against the pain and didn´t make a sound. When Hidan released me I tried to move and found that I could do so without any major pain.

"Thanks." I told Hidan who only replied. "Yeah let´s try and not make that a habit Cherry." I only gave him a smile that clearly said "no promises" before all of us went back into the house.

I let Kakuzu examine me when he came home and he concluded that I was not badly hurt (which I already knew) and Pein agreed that Konan and I no longer could go to the mall alone.

That night after I had enjoyed a hot shower I put on some white silk pajama pants and a pale pink tank top before venturing to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. In the kitchen I found Tobi who apparently had the same idea as me.

"Hi Tobi." I said before opening a cabinet, trying to reach one of the cups on the top shelf. "Hi Sakura-chan, Tobi will help you, Tobi is a good boy!" He said before pulling down the cup and pouring hot chocolate in both of our cups. "Thanks Tobi." I said and gave him a hug before returning to my room.

I cuddled up in bed with a book, sipping my chocolate while trying not to think about what had happened at the mall parking lot or that my brother was gone. It was late at night when I finally was able to go to sleep.

A few days passed with not much happening and I actually found myself bored. I had thought that with my past and the threat of Sound hanging over me I would not miss the action and adrenaline. But I did.

I was sitting in my room, staring out the window at the rain outside, bored out of my mind when a knock on the door drew my attention. "Come in." I called.

Hidan, Kisame and Kakuzu all entered dressed in swim shorts and t-shirts. "Hey Cherry, want to go play in the pool with us?" I smiled entered my face and I felt my whole soul lighten. "Of course I want to guys! Kami knows I´m bored out of my mind sitting here…" We agreed that I would meet the guys in the pool as soon as I had changed and then they left me again.

I quickly put on my black bikini with silver stars and checked to see that my nipple piercing wasn´t visible through the fabric. It wasn´t so I hurried down the hallways until I reached the pool. The door was open and I could hear the guys playing in the water.

An evil smile made its way upon my lips as an idea took form in my mind. I knew that the light switch was right beside the door so I sneaked my hand in and sent the pool room into darkness. Then I snuck along the far wall so that I could enter the water from the far side. As I silently entered the pool someone else got out on the other side. I could hear Hidan and Kisame whispering to each other so it must´ve been Kakuzu that got up to switch the lights back on.

I navigated carefully through the water until I stood between Hidan and Kisame, luckily they didn´t notice me or else this prank wasn´t going to work. At the same moment the lights came back on I said a simple "Hi!" scaring both Hidan and Kisame to death.

I actually made both of them scream.

I laughed until my stomach hurt before I was able to stop. Strangely the boy's didn´t seem to find it quite as amusing… But they soon forgave me and we played a few games of water volley ball before getting up. We watched a few movies and had dinner before we all went to bed.

That night I woke up to my phone signaling I had gotten a text message. I groggily took my phone only to instantly becoming alert at the sight of who sent me the text. It was from Sasuke. I opened the text and read it, dread filling my stomach.

_Hello Sakura, I just wanted to remind you what will happen if you pull that stunt from the parking lot again._

As if the words were not enough, he had also sent me a picture. The picture was of a young woman who had had the Sound gang symbol, a music note inside an Uchiha fan, carved on her back. I nearly got sick at the sight of it.

I dropped the phone on the floor and it hit the floor with a thud. As soon as I dropped it, I got another text message.

_You don´t like it?_

I panicked. How did he know my reaction? I frantically looked around my room but I didn´t see anything out of the ordinary. But I couldn´t shook off the uncomfortable feeling so I carefully made my way over to the windows, looking out. I didn´t see anything that shouldn´t be there either.

I tried to get back to bed but soon realized that it would be impossible to sleep like this, I was too tense.

I got up again and silently made my way through the bathroom to Hidans bedroom, it wouldn´t be the first time I went to him in the middle of the night.

"Hidan?" I called silently as I opened the bathroom door and entered his dark bedroom. "Cherry? What´s wrong? Did you have another nightmare?" His voice was heavy with sleep but I could hear him make room for me in his bed.

I thankfully slid under the covers and snuggled up beside him before telling him. "No not a nightmare… I got some text messages from Sasuke; it appears he´s mad at me." I shivered at the thought of what could happen if he actually caught me and Hidan hugged me closer as if he was trying to ward off those thoughts. "We won´t let him take you, try not to worry." He told me with his mouth against my temple.

My own mouth was resting against his neck, my head next to his on his pillow. I laid more on him then next to him, my arm across his chest and my legs nestled with his. His body heat warming me, making me sleepy once again. "I´ll try not to worry…" I murmured against his smooth skin, making goose bumps brake out all over his body.

He opened his eyes to look at me, I could feel his gaze on me and his violet eyes glittered even in the dark of his bedroom. He suddenly switched us, so that he was on top of me, his arms on either side of my head, holding his weigh up. There was a second of stillness before his lips locked on mine.

His lips moved against mine, soft yet demanding. He broke away for air, our breaths mingling, both hot and heavy. Something warm spread low in my stomach, making me give away a low moan. He leaned down to kiss me again, his chest rubbing against mine, making my piercing feel both uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time.

When he broke away next time, he pressed a kiss on my neck, right beneath my ear, before whispering. "When did you get a nipple piercing Sakura?" I blushed but he couldn´t see that in the dark of his bedroom. "I did it the last time Konan and I went to the mall, right before I dislocated my shoulder." He rested his forehead against mine, his breath ghosting over my cheek. "I like it." He told me then he kissed me one last time before laying down beside me again, pulling me close to his chest, his mouth against my Akatsuki tattoo and his arm securely wrapped around my waist.

I didn´t think anymore of Sasuke that night.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own naruto. **

**Chapter Twelve**

The next two weeks passed in a blur. I was redecorating my room with the help of Konan, training and going on patrols.

But today was a special day, today my room was finished.

The walls were now a deep purple with the wall behind the bed painted black. I had new thin, black curtains and black fluffy rugs on the floor. The bedding was black satin and the comforter was also purple. I was proud over my work.

Someone knocked on my door and then Tobi came rushing in, tackling me to the bed. "Sakura-chan is going on patrol with me and Zetzu! Isn´t Sakura-chan happy? Tobi is a good boy!" I struggled to breathe as Tobi's weigh pushed me down in the mattress but was saved when Zetzu lifted Tobi off of me. "Yes Tobi I´m happy. Thanks Zetzu." I told them both before following them to the basement to gear up.

We headed out to the northern border; apparently there had been some small fights in our area. But when we got there, everything was eerily quiet. We walked close to each other, all of us prepared for something to happen.

We turned a corner when something or someone suddenly slammed into me, pulling me to the ground. "Tobi call for backup!" I heard Zetzu yell before I took a blow to the head that left me dizzy and unfocused. But then my training kicked in and I head-butted the person above me and got up.

Tobi was nowhere in sight but Zetzu was a few feet away fighting against four sound members. I knocked one of the four out and then stood back to back with Zetzu. "Are you **alright**?" He asked me, his other personality coming out in the heat of the battle. "Yeah, I´ll be fine." I told him before punching a guy in the face, breaking his nose.

We managed to keep up our defenses but soon exhaust set in and our movements became slower and slower. "Where are Tobi with the backup?" I asked Zetzu, panting. "Don´t know, **He should be back by now**, maybe something happened to him?" Was Zetzus response. I got my phone from my pocket and pushed in the emergency code before sending the text to Pein.

I had learned to do that with one hand and without looking, making it possible for me to send the text while continue fighting. Pein would see that we needed help and track us from the sensors in our phones and vests and send us help. We only had to manage until then…

Suddenly a gunshot echoed between the buildings and we shot a look at each other before running towards the source. It could have been Tobi.

We turned a corner and saw Tobi on the ground, leaning against the building trying to stop a bleeding with his hands. He had been shot in the thigh but only the shooter was left standing. All the other sound members that apparently had attacked him were on the ground unconscious.

The shooter turned towards us and shot four rounds against us before Zetzu managed to knock him out with a hard blow to the head. The first shot hit the ground beside me, the second one hit low in my vest, on the right of my belly button piercing. The third shot also hit my vest, right beneath my left breast. The fourth shot barely grazed my left upper arm.

I managed to remain standing even though I doubled over trying to catch my breath. "Sakura! **Are you okay?!**" Zetzu yelled in my direction as he started to defend both Tobi and me from the remaining sound members. "Yeah I´m fine!" I yelled back as soon as I could breathe again and ripped off a piece of my shirt to use as a bandage on Tobi's leg.

Tobi had become unconscious and as soon as I had finished up bandaging his leg, Zetzu let out a cry of pain and I looked up to see him clutching the side of his neck, blood staining the shirt beneath it.

I immediately jumped up and took over the fight against the knife-armed sound member. Zetzu sank to the ground, blood pouring out from between his fingers but thankfully not enough to be a severed main artery; it was probably a smaller one. It wasn´t deadly but the blood loss made him too weak to fight.

It was now up to me to protect the boys against the sound.

Thankfully only five of them were still standing, one of them had a knife and the other four were unarmed. I quickly whipped out a knife from my booth, just in time to defend myself from an attack.

It took me some time but I managed to knock out two of the unarmed ones, the bullet graze may not be serious but the blood loss as well as the fatigue made it hard for me to win this fight.

I wasn´t sure if I could.

Just as I felt that I couldn´t fight anymore, I heard the sound of screeching tires and slamming car doors. The backup had finally arrived. My vision started to get blurry but I didn´t allow myself the luxury of falling unconscious.

Suddenly the remaining sound members were gone and Hidans worried face was in front of me. "Sakura are you alright?" He sounded worried but I nodded and gestured towards Zetzu and Tobi behind me. "Yeah I´m fine, help them." I could hear a small amount of panic in my voice and apparently Hidan heard it to.

"Calm down, Kakuzus taking care of them right now." Hidan told me as another car pulled up. Pein and Konan exited and Konan immediately came to me as Pein went to Kakuzu. She gave me a quick check over and told Hidan to take me home before the ambulance and police arrived.

"She´s probably got a minor concussion, she´s gotten grazed by a bullet and I think she got hit in the vest. Take her home but don´t leave her alone until Kakuzu get to examine her." Hidan nodded before he scoped me up and put me in one of the cars. He buckled me in and then sat behind the wheel, taking us home.

When we arrived at the house I tried to get inside on my own but as soon as I stepped out of the car my knees went weak and I fell to the ground. I expected pain to come but when it didn´t I looked up to see Kisame with an arm around me, keeping me upright.

"I´ve got you kitten, looks like you´ve been in a hell of a fight." "She was." Hidan told him as he scooped me up again and started walking towards my room. "She protected both Zetzu and Tobi against sound with a concussion, a bullet graze and probably a hit to the vest. And who knows how long they had been fighting before that…" He explained to Kisame who followed us. "Damn…" Kisame whispered, earning a weak smile from me.

Hidan sat me down at the bathroom counter in our bathroom before explaining to me. "I´m going to strip you to your underwear and clean you so that I can see if you got any more injuries. Then I´m going to take care of the ones I find. Do you understand?" I nodded. "Are you okay with me and Kisame doing this?" Before I got the chance to answer Kisame said. "I don´t need to be here. I can go if that makes her more comfortable."

I smiled at his sweetness and said. "No it's alright, you can stay too Kisame, it's not like I´m going to be naked. And even if I were, I see you as a big brother, so it's alright…" Both of them nodded, small smiles on their faces.

When they´d gotten me out of my bloodied clothes they immediately saw not one bullet in my vest but two. They shared a look before taking off my vest, revealing the two big bruises beneath.

They put me in the shower, letting the water cleanse me of dried blood and dirt. When I was clean they wrapped me in a giant black towel and put me back on the bathroom counter. I was still in my now wet underwear but at least the blood was gone. Kisame wrapped my bullet graze and then he disappeared to make me some food.

Hidan cleaned some of the small cuts I had gotten while fighting against the sound member who had a knife before he smeared some ointment on my big bruises. I tried to focus on him but as soon as I managed to focus on him, he became unfocused again.

It took me a while to realize he was talking to me.

"Hey are you really alright Sakura? You seem kind of… dazed." I looked up at him but had to blink a few times to actually see him before answering. "Yeah I´ll be fine… just tired. A little sleep would be nice…" He actually gave me a real smile at that, not one of the small ones filled with concern.

"You need to eat a little first but then you can sleep." He told me and picked me up again only to set me down on my bed this time. He gave me some clean underwear and my favorite pajamas (Itachis black silk boxers and his own reaper t-shirt) to change in to.

He waited outside for me to change and when he reentered Kisame was with him carrying a tray of food. "You´re spoiling me." I told them before taking small bites of the food. "We take care of each other, that's not the same as spoiling someone." Hidan told me. "Yeah, right now you´re hurt, maybe not as bad as Zetzu or Tobi but you´re still hurt and that's bad enough." Kisame filled in.

After I finished the small meal I immediately put my head on my pillow, falling asleep even before Hidan had the time to cover me with my covers.

I woke a few hours later only to lean over the edge of the bed and emptying my stomachs content on the floor. Hidan was on top of the covers on the other side of the bed, reading a book, but he didn´t have any time to react.

I leaned back against my pillow, pale as death and still nauseous.

Hidan didn´t say anything, instead he simply carried me over to his own bed and tucking me in again. I felt a tear escape from my eye. I was ashamed and a little scared and felt like hell. Hidan wiped it away and told me. "It´s okay Sakura, it´s probably the concussion making you sick, it´ll be alright." He stroked me over my hair until I fell asleep again.

The next time I woke, it was to a cool hand on my forehead. I felt a tiniest bit better and blinked slowly at the person kneeling beside the bed. "Kakuzu?" I spoke and the raspy sound making its way out of my mouth made me cringe.

His red and green eyes were soft as he looked at me. "I´m sorry I couldn´t come sooner Sakura, I´ll give you a shot with some painkillers and something to make you sleep. You were worse off than I thought but you´re going to be fine… You´re body is reacting to your different injuries, that´s why you feel like shit."

I slowly wrapped my hand around his wrist, my skin hot against his. "It´s fine Kazu…" I told him and he gave me one of his rare smiles before the needle sank into my skin and sleep once again overtook me.

I slept for two days before waking up again. And then it took me a week before I was free of my injuries and back to normal.

By now I felt fine and wanted to resume going on patrols but I wasn´t allowed to. "Why can´t I go on patrols?" I was terrorizing Pein, hoping to make him change his mind. "Because the last time you got hurt, pretty bad at that." He answered me calmly. "But you need me, Tobi is still in rehab and Zetzu is with him. And it's at least a few more weeks before Sasori, Deidara and Itachi returns."

He looked up from his paperwork and told me. "I know we´re low on people right now but I can´t let you out for at least a couple more days. Hidan, Kakuzu, Kisame and Konan would kill me if you got hurt again so soon." I sighed, knowing I had no hope of convince him otherwise if Konan didn´t want me to go out either.

"I am sorry Sakura; perhaps you and Konan can plan Kisame´s birthday party? His birthday is this Friday." Pein told me and I felt my jaw go slack, he hadn´t told me that!

Pein just looked at me. "He didn´t tell you?" I shook my head no and then left him without another word.

I knew that Hidan and Kakuzu were out but both Konan and Kisame should be somewhere in the house. And I was determined to find at least one of them.

I found Kisame first; he was in his bedroom fresh out of the shower. He was only dressed in a pair of black cargo pants but I didn´t let that stop me, I was on a mission.

"Hey kitten what…" "Why didn´t you tell me your birthday is in three days?" He actually looked ashamed at that, not meeting my gaze.

I found that odd.

"Why didn´t you want me to know?" I asked him, feeling a sliver of betrayal. "I didn´t want anyone to know…" He admitted, sinking down on the bed, almost emitting an aura of… defeat?

"Why?" I sat down beside him, putting a hand on his thigh for comfort. Though I wasn´t sure if I was trying to comfort him or myself.

"I have… bad experiences of birthdays." The way he said that made me aware that something had happened to him on his birthdays and that it had been really bad. Like some of my experiences with my parents…

"What happened?" I asked him, almost scared to hear the answer. "My father… was not a nice man, he abused my mother. On my birthdays he told me that his gift to me was to relieve my mother of her daily beating. He whipped me on every single one of my birthdays until I was sixteen."

"What happened when you turned sixteen?"

"He whipped me, as usual, and then he killed my mother. I ran away but when I came back with the police he had killed himself." I could hear the pain in Kisames voice and on instinct wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I´m so sorry."

He actually hugged me back, hiding his face against my shoulder.

I was shocked to realize that he was crying.

At first I didn´t know what to do, but soon I felt myself soften, the tenseness escaping from my body. I put one hand in his hair, cradling his head against my chest, and used the other hand to stroke his back in gentle strokes. When I felt he had stopped crying I started telling him of my own birthdays to make him comfortable again. I had a feeling that right now he was afraid of looking at me, maybe he felt ashamed for crying?

"I try not to remember my birthdays either… my parents were usually more cruel than usual at those days, almost as if they were trying to punish me for being born. It started after Sasori left, but that first birthday without him was the worst. They punished me for all ten birthdays at once, as if they felt the need to make up for lost time…" I went silent for a moment before telling him the last thing.

"For every year, they cut me. One cut for one birthday. Always deep enough to be dangerous, always leaving a scar…" I pulled away only enough so he could get a good look at the inside of my forearm. "They started near the elbow, making their way up to my wrist. Making the eighteenth cut my last." I told him and I felt his fingers ghost over the raised, white lines.

"The eighteenth cut would have killed you." His voice was thick and raspy, making me hug him a little tighter. "Yes it would have... don´t tell Sasori." He chuckled and I gave him a small smile before getting serious again.

"Don´t ever be ashamed of crying, especially not in front of me." He only nodded and I released him making a promise. "I promise I won´t throw you a birthday party, even if I might want to." I then got up and made my way over to the door, just as I was about to close it behind me I heard him say.

"Thank you kitten."

I thought about his story for the next two days before I finally made up my mind about what to do. I went to Peins office and told him. "I want everyone out of the house tomorrow, so that Kisame and I are alone here." He looked surprised at my request and asked me.

"Why?"

I watched him for a moment before deciding to answer. "Kisame has... bad memories… of his birthdays. I want him to have a happy one but… I don´t think that will happen if we´re all here…" I waited for Peins reaction, but as he said nothing, I continued. "Perhaps you, Konan, Kakuzu and Hidan could spend the day with Zetzu and Tobi? And maybe go out for a club night after?"

He nodded. "We could do that… You sure you two will be alright here alone?" "Yes I´m sure." Pein searched my face for any sign of doubt but when he found none he nodded. "Fine we´ll do as you wish."

"Thank you." I told him, giving him a small peck on the cheek before leaving his office, leaving him stunned.

I went to find Kakuzu next and I found him at the pool, swimming laps. "Hello Sakura care to join me?" He asked and I couldn´t find it in me to say no. "Sure, I´ll be right back." I told him and hurried to change into a bikini.

When I returned we swam a couple of laps before I got the courage to tell him about my plan for Kisame. "Did you know that Kisame hates his birthday?" He nodded. "I do, but I don´t know why… Why are you asking this?" I smiled a little; Kakuzu already understood where I was going with this.

"He told me why… and I want to help him. I just need to know what I should do if I accidently trigger a flashback?" Kakuzu studied me for a long time before answering.

"If the reason behind his pain is similar to yours, you could just think of what would work on you. You and Kisame are quite similar when it comes to these things." I nodded. "Thanks." Then I exited the pool and went back to my room.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** I´m going awake for the weekend so i give you this chapter as a gift =) I´ll try and update again on monday =)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Thirteen**

The next morning my alarm woke me early, at six o´clock. All the others had already left even if Hidan hadn´t wanted to leave me. But I explained some things to him and after a while he gave in.

I took a fast shower using a shampoo that smelled like watermelon before dressing in a cute dress. The dress was a light blue, tight fitting from the waist up and flowing from the waist to right above my knees. It had a halter neck and a white satin band right beneath my breasts.

I put on some light makeup and curled my hair before making my way to the kitchen. I intended to give Kisame breakfast in bed.

Around eight o´clock I carried a tray with pancakes, orange juice, coffee, some fresh fruit and a freshly baked cupcake with a single candle on. I had also put a vase of fresh roses and a small present on the tray.

I silently entered Kisames bedroom and put the tray on his desk before trying to wake him up. I carefully climbed up in bed with him before lightly shaking his shoulder.

"Kisa… wake up." I didn´t actually think he would wake up from that but he did, and not in the way I had expected. He more or less attacked me, pinning me to the bed beneath his body.

"Kitten?" His surprise was evident but I only gave him a smile and said. "Happy Birthday Kisa!" At first he didn´t even move, he only stared at me but then he rolled over on his back, putting an arm over his face. "You promised not to throw me a party kitten." I smiled even bigger, I had anticipated this reaction.

"I didn´t, it´s just you and me here. We´re alone all day!" I told him happily. "For real?" It was apparent Kisame didn´t believe me yet. "Yes, and I intend to show you how nice a birthday could be so that maybe we can throw you a party next year."

Finally he smiled. "I like how you think kitten." I smiled even bigger before jumping off his bed and giving him his breakfast tray. His eyes got big and he looked at me, asking. "Did you make this kitten?" I nodded and watched him eat, happy that he seemed to like it. And it was absolutely adorable to see him blush when he unwrapped the chain necklace i had gotten for him.

The day passed in the same happy filled haze as it started and when the day ended I was happy to know that I had actually helped Kisame overcome his problem with birthdays. And I hadn´t even triggered a bad memory.

I couple days later Pein finally allowed me to do a patrol in the company of Kisame and Kakuzu. Hidan worked that night and Konan had an art show so nobody was going to be home anyway. Or it might have been that he let me go because Kakuzu were going, so that I had my own personal medic on site.

We were going to patrol the docks and with my history, we expected trouble. We didn´t have to wait long.

We were out on one of the piers, investigating some mysterious crates when sound members cut off our way back, trapping us. "Damn kitten, you a sound magnet or something?" Kisame asked me, both humor and seriousness clear in his voice. I didn´t have any time answering him, the sound attacked and this time they knew how to fight.

We were outnumbered five to one but hey, at least we got to use all the things we learned in our training sessions. I knocked out two of the guys fighting me and threw a third one into the ocean. One of the remaining two landed a kick on my right shoulder, dislocating it. I grunted in pain and then swore loudly. "Dammit not again!"

Since my right arm was now useless, it made fighting a lot harder. But not impossible. I knocked one of them out with a devastating left hook and tried to do the same to the other one, but he evaded me. He picked me up with a grip around the waist and then tossed me into the ocean. Now I could swim decently, but with only one working arm? Not so much.

I went beneath the surface and struggled to get up again. I kicked myself up and managed to get a few deep breaths before I went under once more. The waves made it even more difficult and the water was freezing, making my movements sluggish and uncoordinated.

I got up enough to get a few more breaths and heard Kisame yell. "She´s in the water!" and then a splash before I once again sank beneath the surface.

And this time, no matter how much I kicked, I couldn´t get my head above the surface.

Just as I was about to run out of air, strong arms wrapped around me, dragging me upwards. We broke the surface and I gulped down air while at the same time trying to cough up sea water. I was disoriented and numb from the cold but I still felt a strong body move next to mine, dragging me back to the pier.

Warm hands gripped my upper arms and attempted to lift me out of the water but when I screamed in pain they immediately released me again. I was turned around in the water and came eye to eye with Kakuzu, his brown hair wet and plastered against his face. "What´s wrong Sakura?" "Dis…located my shou…lder ag…ain." I told him through shattering teeth.

He nodded. "Okay, Kisame grab her around the waist when I lift her up." "Sure." Came Kisames answer from above us. Kakuzu then dived and wrapped his arms around my thighs instead before pushing up, raising me from the water. Kisames hands then gripped my waist lifting me up even more so that I finally was back on the pier. He then reached down again and helped Kakuzu up.

As soon as Kakuzu got out of the water he picked me up and he and Kisame rushed back to the car. "What´s…the hu…rry?" I asked them and Kisame answered.

"The water is really cold for this season; we have to get you and Kakuzu warm again before you get hypothermia." I looked closer at Kakuzu and realized that his lips were turning blue and that he was shaking real bad. It made me confused, why wasn´t I shaking?

I asked them that and once again Kisame answered. "That's bad you know, since you spent more time in the water you´re colder than him and therefore you´re no longer shaking. You will start shaking when you´re temperature goes up and you can actually feel how cold you are."

We reached the car and Kisame sat behind the wheel, starting up the car and blasting heat on the backseat. Before Kakuzu allowed me to get in the car he gripped my shoulder and upper arm and without warning, popped my shoulder back into place.

I swore loudly as tears started streaming down my face, that hurt a lot more than usual and I didn´t even notice as Kakuzu scooped me up and sat in the backseat with me in his lap, trying to warm me. "Sorry but I had to fix your shoulder before you started shaking, you could have hurt yourself worse if I hadn´t." He explained to me while wrapping his arms around me.

"But why does it hurt so much more than usual?" I whispered with my forehead resting against his collar bone, clutching his soaked shirt, willing the tears to stop. "Because you´re so cold Sakura…" His voice softened but then grew worried as he saw I was about to fall asleep. "Sakura? Sakura stay awake!" His words did little to me and I heard him yell to Kisame to drive faster.

"What´s wrong with her?" He asked worriedly. "I´m not sure… It may be hypothermia but she doesn´t feel _that_ cold…" He got silent then before telling something to Kisame that I didn´t hear. But then he whispered something in my ear that confused me. "Forgive me for this…"

Then he pressed really hard against my recently dislocated shoulder making me scream in pain once again.

Now his apology made sense.

I don´t remember much of the car ride back home, only pain and Kakuzus whispered apologies. When the car finally stopped, the pain went away and I slumped against Kakuzu, his arms holding me tightly against him.

"Go and call Pein, tell him what happened but not to worry, then make us some food please?" Kakuzu told Kisame before taking me to mine and Hidans bathroom. He drew a bath for us and then stripped down to his boxers before stripping me down to my underwear as well. He then picked me up and sat down in the tub with me once again in his lap.

I whimpered as the water burned me, making Kakuzu involuntarily tighten his hold on me. "Shh… It´s okay Sakura…" His voice calmed me and I did my best to relax. But my shoulder was killing me and I started to shiver, tears fell from my eyes still, I hurt so, so bad.

But the shivering stopped after a while as warmth once again spread through my body and I found that thinking was a lot easier as well.

I followed one of the scars on his arm with my finger, wondering where he got them all from. They were rather wide and white and I could see where the stiches had been. He had those scars all over his body even on his face, that´s why he so often wore a mask.

"Where did you get these?" I asked him, my voice hoarse after all the crying and screaming. "You really want to know?" He asked and I nodded before leaning my head against his shoulder.

"It happened while I was in the navy; I got to close to a landmine going off. It more or less shredded me to bits, sending me to the hospital for about two years. When I recovered I got in on the navy medic training and I continued my time in the navy as a medic. That´s where I was when I met the rest of the gang." He explained to me and I smiled up at him. "That has to be the most edited story I´ve ever been told, nevertheless it explained your scars efficiently."

We were silent for a while before Kakuzu said that it was okay to get up. "I´m going to give you a pretty strong painkiller but you have to eat first." He told me before going to his own room to dry off and dress.

I dried off and put on some clean underwear and a pair of dark green cotton pajama pants. I didn´t put on a shirt so that Kakuzu would have easier access to my shoulder. I tried to brush my hair but soon realized that I couldn´t, my shoulder hurt too much.

I knock sounded on the door before it opened and Kisame entered, carrying enough food for all three of us. "Kisa!" I exclaimed, very happy to see him. "I need your help."

"Sure thing kitten, what can I do?" He replied with a smile on his lips and relief in his eyes. It seems like he had trouble handling me in pain and was now relieved that I had stopped screaming and crying.

"Brush my hair." I told him and he obediently sat down behind me, brush in hand. As he brushed my hair in long, even strokes I decided that I had to ask him to do this more often.

If I were a cat I would have purred.

Soon another knock sounded and Kakuzu reentered, now dressed in black sweatpants and a white wife beater. Kisame put away my hairbrush and we all sat down to eat before we did anything else, we were all starving.

After our meal Kakuzu examined my shoulder, I was gritting my teeth against the pain and hoping he hadn´t made it worse by pressing on it the whole ride back here. He was soon finished and as he smeared on a pain relieving cream he told me. "It should be fine in a day or two, no permanent damage."

He made me meet his eyes before telling me. "I´m really sorry for what I had to do in the car but I couldn´t let you fall asleep." I only nodded. "It´s alright Kazu, I understand why you did it. It´s okay."

He gave me a small, hesitant smile before giving me a pill telling me. "Take this and try to get some sleep, I´ll check on you later." Then both he and Kisame left my bedroom.

I swallowed the pill with some water before pulling on a dark brown tank top and lying down on the bed, trying to get some sleep.

But an hour later I still hadn´t slept, in fact, I wasn´t even tired. Instead I felt a bit dizzy, almost as if I was drunk. I was even starting to feel a bit giddy. I got up from the bed, giving up on sleep. I looked at myself in the mirror; my green eyes were red and a bit puffy. I felt the need to giggle; with a little bit of imagination my eyes were like a pale version of Kakuzus red and green ones.

I went into the bathroom, looking in the mirror there as well. This time I looked at my hair, threading my fingers through it. It almost reached my lower back. I found a scissor and giggled as I cut my hair off along my chin, making it a jagged pixie style.

When I was done I threw the scissor at Hidans bathroom door, it stuck there which I found absolutely hilarious.

I left the bathroom in search of more things to do to entertain me. In the back of my mind I realized that I probably wasn´t supposed to react like this but at the same time I didn´t care. In fact I was having a lot of fun.

I made my way to the living room and started to look through the movie cabinet for a good movie to watch. I didn´t find one but I did pull out all of the 400 movies, spreading them throughout the whole living room.

Then I moved to the kitchen where I made a pyramid of drinking glasses. Too bad I "accidently" kicked away one of the glasses from the lowest level, making the whole pyramid crashing against the kitchen floor. "Oops!" I laughed and quickly ran away as I heard Kisame and Kakuzu approaching.

I went to the garage just as Pein and Konan came home. I hid in the shadows and as soon as they were on the way towards the door I launched myself at Peins back, clinging to him much like a koala bear.

"Hi Pein! Hi Konan!" I yelled in their ears. Pein was frozen in the spot, not moving an inch and Konan just looked at me with wide eyes. Then they looked at each other and Konan asked out loud. "What happened to her? Is she drunk? And what happened to her hair?"

"I cut my hair!" I told her happily but then felt as I was about to cry. "Don´t you like it?" Konan took one look at my trembling lower lip before assuring me. "Of course I like it Sakura, but have you been drinking?" My face lit up with a smile again and I told her. "That´s my little secret and I won´t tell you."

"Pein smell her breath, if she has been drinking I´m going to kill Kisame and Kakuzu. Hadn´t there been some sort of trouble on their patrol?" Pein nodded. "Yeah, Kisame told me something about dislocated shoulders and hypothermia but she doesn´t seem hurt…" Konan then looked at me sternly and told me. "Sakura breathe on Peins face please?" I giggled again and answered her. "Only because you ask so nicely Konan-chan!"

I leaned forward over his shoulder as he turned his head but instead of just breathing on him, I gave him a quick kiss on the lips shocking both him and Konan. I giggled again at the look on their faces. "Aww! Is Konan-chan jealous?" I didn´t wait for her to answer, instead I leaned away from Pein and gave her a kiss on the lips as well. "Now it´s even!" I exclaimed, extremely happy with myself.

"Let´s just go find Kakuzu, he can probably explain." Pein said after he recovered from my assault. "He better." Was Konans simple response before they started walking again. I still clung to Peins back now singing to myself as I bounced up and down.

When Pein and Konan walked toward the kitchen, I could hear Kakuzus and Kisames voices. I giggled again and the faces they made when Pein entered the kitchen with me on his back were hilarious.

Before they got a chance to say anything I launched myself on Kisame, making him catch me midair. I planted a kiss on his lips before doing the same to Kakuzu. Then I jumped down and in a flash ran out of the kitchen before they had time to stop me. The last thing I heard was Kisame asking Kakuzu. "What the hell did you give her before?!"

I laughed again now making my way to Peins office. In his office I found a bunch of important looking papers that I generously wrote my signature on. I then continued to the pool which I made into a giant bubble bath. Then I slowly made my way to the attic.

It was dark and dusty but I happily skipped in, not noticing that the door shut behind me. I played around for a while before getting bored, but when I tried to open the door again it wouldn´t budge.

I was still high on my painkillers so I only shrugged and instead climbed out of a window, entering the roof instead. I walked around, trying to find another way down when Hidans car pulled up in front of the house making me yell. "Hi Hidan come up and play with me!" I think I scared him because he yelled something I didn´t hear. "What?!" I yelled back, leaning over the edge trying to hear him.

Then I slipped.

I don´t really know what was going through my head as I fell but it certainly wasn´t death. I giggled. All the way down until I landed on something both soft and hard, making me lose my breath. It grunted at the impact and it breathed and was warm. It appeared as Hidan had caught me.

I looked up to see his face, he looked both scared, angry and relieved at the same time. It made me giggle again. "Hi Hidan!" I said once again, making him look at me as if I had lost my mind.

"What happened?" He asked and I giggled as I told him about the ambush, the dip in the ocean, my dislocated shoulder, the bath with Kakuzu, Kisame brushing my hair and last about the pill Kakuzu gave me. Then I told him about all the fun stuff I had done like cutting my hair, playing with the movies, building a pyramid, kissing, signing papers, making a bubble bath and getting locked in the attic.

When I was done I leaned really close to his face, shamelessly kissing him before looking into his eyes, telling him. "You have really pretty eyes!" He only sighed, picking me up and carrying me back inside. He found the others still in the kitchen and they all just stared at him as he entered with me.

I once again launched myself at Kisame, yelling. "Kisa! Kisa! Guess what!? I can almost fly!" He only stared at me until Hidan explained that I had fell from the roof, then his arms locked around me keeping me in place. I didn´t like it one bit.

I squirmed a bit as Kakuzu finally told them the story, ending with that he had given me a strong painkiller that was meant to make me fall asleep, not making me hyper. I had had enough of Kisame holding me in place so I gave him my best evil smile and then bit him hard enough to draw blood.

He of course let go of me and I immediately darted away, to bad I didn´t get very far before Hidan caught me. "Oh, you´re no fun…" I whined but then settled in his arms, it was quite cozy in fact.

"What should we do? She can´t run around like this all night, she can get hurt!" Konan said but Pein told her. "I don´t think we have to worry about that, she looks quite calm now to me." They all looked at me, I had cuddled up against Hidans warm chest, his arms keeping me in place and I was about to fall asleep.

"That settles it, good night everyone." Hidan said and walked away in the direction of his bedroom. The soft rocking movements made me even sleepier and I was asleep before he reached his bedroom.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Lemon in this one people.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Fourteen**

I was in the place you go to when you´re half awake, half asleep. I was warm and comfy but an aching in my shoulder slowly pulled me from sleep. The surface beneath me was warm… and had a heartbeat.

I looked up to see who I was sleeping on and I met Hidans violet eyes looking at me. I yawned and burrowed my head in his chest, tightening my hold around his waist.

"How are you feeling?" He asked me, curiosity clear in his voice. "My shoulder is aching… tired…" I mumbled, not willing to wake up just yet. He let me be for a while but then he suddenly disappeared from underneath me. I sat up, alarmed at his sudden movement.

"Relax Cherry." Hidan told me from inside our bathroom, before coming back out, now dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I got out of the bed slowly, moving to stand in front of his mirror. I looked at my new haircut before groaning and going back to the bed, flopping down on my stomach.

"Did I really do all the things I think I did last night?" I asked him from the safety underneath his covers. "Yup, all of it." Hidans answer was filled with laughter but I only burrowed myself deeper beneath his covers, shame burning on my cheeks.

"Hey Cherry don´t be like that, it´s not so bad." Hidan tried to comfort me but I stayed where I was. I had no intention of leaving my safe haven in Hidans bed until tomorrow at the very least… I had kissed Konan for kami´s sake!

"Sakura?" Hidan started to sound a little worried and he lifted a corner of the covers to look at me. But I hid my face in my arms making him pull off the covers and holding me against his chest instead. "It´s okay Sakura, we don´t blame you. In fact we´re making Kakuzu clean up all you´re messes because he gave you that pill without watching you."

I couldn´t help but to giggle at that and then it felt okay again. Hidan was amazing like that.

He was also right about the others; none of them blamed me for my unexpected high last night. Not even Konan.

The days flew after that and soon it was only a few days left before Sasori, Deidara and Itachi would be returning. Pein had said that we could go to the mall the next day to get some things for the party we were going to throw them. But for tonight, Hidan and I were alone in the house, the others out for the night.

"Cherry let´s do something, I´m so fucking bored..." Hidan whined from his laid back position on my bed. I was rummaging around in my drawers looking for a missing leather bracelet. "Well, what do you want to do then?" I asked him, annoyed that I couldn´t find my bracelet. "Maybe we could go to the fucking pool and play around for a bit?"

I stood up and nodded. "Sure, go and change and I´ll meet you there." He gave me a quick smile before disappearing and I searched for my simple peach colored bikini. I finally found it under my bed and hurriedly changed before making my way to the pool.

When I got there, the room was empty and I stepped in carefully, prepared for an ambush. Suddenly arms encircled me from behind and lifted me from the floor. "What took you so fucking long Cherry?" Hidans voice sounded from behind me while walking closer to the edge of the pool. I had no time to answer him because when he reached the edge he held me tighter before simply jumping in the water.

I shrieked in surprise and instinctively clung to Hidan. He only laughed at me as we resurfaced and I hit him loosely on the chest. "Don´t do that to me!" Then I laughed with him.

We played around for a while before Hidan leaned against the edge of the pool, seriousness suddenly appearing in his eyes. "Who am I to you?" I immediately sobered up as well and went to him, wrapping my arms around his middle before answering.

"You are one who cares for me, one who protects me. You are my teacher as well as one of my best friends. You are a part in my new family." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before telling him the last part. "And you might just be the one to show me how to love…"

Silence followed my statement and I didn´t dare to look up at him, what if he didn´t feel the same way? He had told me that he loved me but that didn´t mean he was in love with me.

After what felt like an eternity of silence I couldn´t take it anymore and dared a quick look up at his face. I, however, didn´t see what I wanted to see…

His eyes were huge violet pools and his face held an expression of complete and utter surprise. He was stunned, just as when I let him hit me during our first spar.

I released his body as if he had burned me, then getting out of the water as fast as possible, fleeing back to our bathroom and locking the door behind me. I stepped into the shower, still in my bikini, and turned on the water. I had been right to worry, he apparently didn´t feel the same way as I do…

It was first then I released the sobs since the sound of falling water made them silent, and the tears since the water gently hid their trails.

I almost died right there and then as a solemn voice behind me said.

"Did you mean it?" I slowly turned around and found Hidan only inches away, his eyes betraying no feeling at all. "Every single word." I told him and to my surprise his body lost all its tenseness, his eyes softened and the most gorgeous smile I had ever seen entered his lips.

I felt a tiny sliver of hope enter my heart but I was still a little wary of him, not completely sure he still wouldn´t shatter my heart. He took a step forward and joined me in the shower, also still in his swim shorts. He gently cupped the back of my head, his other hand resting on my hip, pulling me closer.

Then his lips locked onto mine and every doubt in my head evaporated from all the emotions he poured into the kiss.

Excitement.

Happiness.

Love.

I let out a small sob, this time out of pure happiness as I drowned in his kiss. His lips moved against mine, gently massaging everywhere they touched. He pulled away for air and his eyes locked onto mine, the color lighter than ever before, glittering in joy.

"I love you, so, so much Sakura… Do you believe me?" I slowly raised one hand and gently stroked his cheek. "I believe you… and it scares me a little…" I told him and his lips locked on mine in another hot kiss before he pulled back and told me.

"It´s nothing to be scared of Cherry… It´s just you and me."

He took another step forward pressing me up against the shower wall. "Just tell me if you want to stop and I´ll stop." He whispered in my ear before kissing me on the neck, making my breathe hitch and my knees go weak. I clung to his wide shoulders, my nails dragging lightly down his muscled back.

"Let me wash you." Hidan purred in my ear then gently nibbled on my earlobe. He put me under the water again, wetting my hair before he poured shampoo in his hand, working it into my now short tresses.

His hands working in my hair was strangely calming in this otherwise rather heated situation. He let the water rinse me of suds before repeating the motion with my conditioner. Then he took hold of the strings holding my bikini top together, asking me.

"May I?"

I nodded and closed my eyes as the knot came lose and Hidan removed the top. His large hands almost covering my stomach before working their way up over my ribs to gently cup my breasts. His lips found their way to the junction where my neck and shoulder met and as he kissed me there, I gave a small moan in pleasure.

I hesitantly turned around to face him, his hands dropping to my hips as my own hands experimentally played over his chest. I explored his body with my hands and he let me, patiently waiting for me to meet his gaze. When I did meet his eyes, my hands froze on his abs as the depth of his amethyst gems pulled me in. One of his hands moved to the small of my back, the other one traveling upwards to touch the jewelry in my nipple.

He gently pulled at my nipple piercing, making me arch against him, heat pooling low in my stomach. Suddenly he pulled me flush against him, kissing me like there was no tomorrow. I felt something that was both warm and hard poke me in the stomach, making me feel like I did something that was slightly forbidden.

I locked my arms around his neck, pressing harder against him to feel even more of him pressed against my own tingling body. I felt him nib at my lower lip, begging for entrance to my mouth.

I let him in and his tongue won over mine in the battle of dominance. He put his hands underneath my thighs and lifted me up, letting me wrap my legs around his waist as he turned off the shower and walked into his bedroom, never once breaking the kiss.

He gently put me down on his bed, his legs in between mine and his arms holding his weight up. He paused for a moment. "Do you want this Sakura?" My heart filled with warmth at his words, he put me before himself, a gesture I was not used to. I nodded and whispered. "Yes, I want this."

His lips locked on mine again while his hands roamed over my body, my own hands finding trails over his back. He pressed light butterfly kisses along my jawline, down my neck and then the rest of my body. His mouth stopping at my breasts to gently suck on one of my nipples, making me moan his name in a voice I first thought didn´t belong to me.

He soon continued to kiss his way down my stomach, while placing a kiss on my hipbone he found my little secret.

"You´ve got another tattoo?"

"Yes, it kind of reminds me of you. You give me hope."

He kissed me once again and I felt as if his hands were all over my body. They probably were too. My stomach was coiled tight and hot, a feeling that was foreign to me but not unpleasant. Suddenly my bikini bottoms were gone and Hidans fingers were playing with my sensitive nub, making me moan and grip his shoulders harder.

His mouth escaped from mine, once again leaving a trail down my body. His fingers leaving my nub to gently wrap around my thighs, holding me in place as his mouth descended on my nub, the warmth and wetness making me crazy.

I moaned almost constantly now, the tight feeling low in my stomach almost hurting. Suddenly one of his fingers traced my opening making me tense up for a second before relaxing again. His mouth continued his magic on me, but I felt him watch me carefully as he slowly slid one of his fingers inside of me. I closed my eyes in pleasure.

He soon slid another finger inside of me and I was expecting pain, but it never came. Instead I saw stars as he curled the fingers inside of me, hitting a spot I never knew existed.

The combination of pleasure from both his mouth and his fingers made the tight coil inside of me snap and I screamed as I was overwhelmed of intense pleasure.

When I came back to my senses Hidans swim shorts were gone and I felt the tip of him at my entrance. I suddenly felt scared but he made me meet his gaze and he told me. "I won´t hurt you, I promise."

I kept my eyes trained on his as he slid inside of me, inch by tantalizing inch. And I never once felt pain. Instead I felt full, like I was about to split open (he was after all nowhere near small) but I never felt any pain.

His eyes had darkened to a shade of dark purple, I thought they were more beautiful than ever and I never wanted to stop looking at them but when he was fully sheathed inside of me, my eyes slid close on their own.

He moved slowly in me, the hot tightness returning. I clawed at his back and Hidan went a little faster making my moans a little louder. Hidan went faster and faster, making me feel like I was about to erupt like a volcano. He went a little deeper, hitting that spot again that made me see stars and scream his name.

Suddenly I exploded and for a moment only experienced hot blackness and searing white. Something warm filled me and then a comforting weight settled on top of me.

When I opened my eyes I saw Hidan sprawled on top of me, his eyes closed and his breath labored. He let out a content sigh and rolled off me to lie on his back, pulling me with him so that I instead was sprawled on top of him.

He opened one eye and found me looking at him. "You okay Sakura?" he asked me, his voice lazy and eyes droopy. I nodded against his chest. "Yeah I´m fine… I feel almost as if you have healed a piece of my soul…" He chuckled beneath me. "I´m glad, now sleep Cherry, we´ll talk more tomorrow."

I cuddled closer to his bare chest, a sigh of content slipping from me. I felt warm, I felt protected, I felt safe and I felt cherished.

I felt loved.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaminer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Fifteen**

I woke up slowly, feeling more rested and relaxed then in a long time despite the slight soreness in between my legs. I stretched and realized that I was still lying on top of Hidan and that I was still naked.

"You´re really beautiful in the morning Cherry." I opened one eye and saw that Hidan was awake and looking at me, a sweet smile on his lips.

"Thank you." I responded thinking about how it would feel good with a shower but being too tired to move. I felt him chuckle beneath me and then the covers were gone and he was walking towards the bathroom with me in his arms. I looked up at him, telling him. "You must be able to read minds."

He shook his head no and explained. "No, but you talk out loud when you´re tired." I felt a light blush cover my cheeks, kami knows how much embarrassing things I´ve said without realizing it. "I think it´s cute." Hidan told me and my blush intensified.

We showered together, this time without the heavy make out. Then we returned to our own rooms to dress. I put my wet hair in a braid before pulling on a pair of light blue boot cut jeans, a simple white tank top and a red and black flannel shirt. I hoped that the shirt would cover Hidans love bites.

I went to the kitchen in search for food, I was absolutely starving. I made myself some toast and ate them standing at the kitchen sink when Konan entered the kitchen. She took one look at me before latching onto my arm and dragging me to her bedroom.

"Talk Sakura." She told me with a huge smile as she locked the door behind us.

"About what?"

"About what happened last night with Hidan of course! Come on you´re killing me…" Since I could clearly see that she really was happy for me I decided to tell her with the promise that she would tell no one else.

She promised and I told her.

"I´m so happy for you!" She told me while trying to hug me to death and I smiled. "But what of protection? You did use it didn´t you?" She asked me next and I simply shook my head no.

"There´s no reason for me to use protection, I lost the ability to have children years ago…" There was a small amount of real sorrow in my voice and she of course noticed.

"I´m sorry Sakura... Have you told Hidan?" She asked as she hugged me once more and I once again shook my head no.

"I don´t know how to tell him… What if he wants to have children? Will he leave me for someone else then or stay and be unhappy?" I voiced my fears to her and she only hugged me tighter telling me that it would be alright no matter how he felt about it and that we always could adopt.

We soon switched to a happier subject, talking about what to get for the boys homecoming party. A knock soon sounded on the door and Peins voice followed. "We´re ready to go now, are you coming?" We immediately jumped off her bed and almost ran to the garage where Pein, Hidan and Kisame were waiting.

At the mall we split into groups, Pein and Konan shopping for food and drinks while Kisame, Hidan and I shopped for decorations. We were almost finished and about to meet up with Pein and Konan for food when my phone chirped, telling me I had a new text message.

_Hello Sakura. Enjoying the mall I see?_

_Sasuke_

I froze, making Kisame bump into me, searching the people around us for the face that belonged to Sasuke. I found nothing but was so scared that I didn´t even notice when Hidan took my phone from my hand and that Kisame wrapped an arm around me protectively.

"Breathe Kitten; we won't let him take you." Kisame assured me and I managed to pull myself together. We met up with the others and ordered some food, before sitting down. We decided that we would leave as soon as we had eaten.

When we walked across the parking lot the sound of a revving car engine alerted me to the danger. I looked up in time to see a black suv skidding to a stop only a few meters away from us.

Sound members showed up, Sasuke, Karin, Suigetsu, Jugo, Kabuto and Orochimaru, being a few of them. All of them had guns and Orochimaru said.

"Give us Sakura and the rest of you are free to go." All of my new family responded with yelling no and never making him frown. "Fine then, we´ll just have to take her anyway. And then the shooting started.

I knew all of them wore Kevlar beneath their clothes just as I did, but that wouldn´t help them if they were shot in the head. I couldn´t let them die for me… I would rather have Orochimaru and Sasuke capture me.

I quickly made my way towards Orochimaru, only telling him when the others couldn´t hear me. "If I go with you, you will leave them alone!" I told him and he nodded before plunging a needle in the side of my throat.

I heard Hidan yell before the world went black.

I came too slowly, my stomach lurching as the drug went off. I was in a bare, grey room with no windows. The only furniture was a narrow bed, a small lamp and a small dresser. I explored the two doors in the room, one leading to a dirty white bathroom with a sink, a toilet and a small shower. The other door was locked and the handle gave me a small electric shock.

The door unlocked and in came Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"Welcome to the Sound hideout. You will be examined by Kabuto and then tested for about a month, then I will let you and Sasuke be together." Orochimaru told me this with a creepy smile on his lips making me shudder. He then left and Kabuto grinned at me, his filthy grey hair hanging in his eyes.

He pushed up his glasses before grabbing me by the arm, leading me out of the room without a word. He soon pushed me inside another room, delivering a swift punch to my head to daze me as he strapped me to a table.

He tore my clothes from my body before starting his examination, making me feel sick. I tried to forget what he was doing with my body by thinking of the guys back home.

Pein would surely be furious, as would the other guys… Konan would be crying, the others would too, but not when anybody saw them.

I thought of how Sasori, Deidara and Itachi would react to the news that sound had managed to capture me.

I thought of Hidan, whom I loved but wasn´t sure I´d ever see again.

Several hours later I was back in my room, sitting in the shower, trying to wash away the memories of Kabutos hands. But I refused to let the tears out. I was going to find a way to escape.

I would not let them break me.

I soon found out that when Orochimaru said that I was to be tested, he really meant that I was to be experimented on. They injected me with poisons, making me immune to most of them by accident. They took away my two lowest ribs, making me unnaturally flexible.

I let them do all that to me, not saying a word. I hadn´t spoken since I´d gotten here but every night I sat in the shower trying to feel clean again. I never succeeded.

Nightmares started to haunt me again, making me an insomniac. I never slept more than two hours a night. I started cutting again, neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto cared. I became emotionless.

The first month was soon over and that's when they let Sasuke have me. He beat me during the days and raped me during the nights, saying he only wanted me to bear his children. Too bad he didn´t know I could not have children.

I had soon been with the Sound for three months, I had lost a lot of weight, I was once again abused and had many new scars. I had locked away my emotions becoming emotionless.

I didn´t cry, I didn´t sleep, I didn´t feel.

Sometimes I wondered if I was even alive…

I still searched for a way to escape, but I did so patiently without any of the sound members noticing. And I finally got my chance. Sasuke was furious with me for not being pregnant and was taking me to see a doctor. He was driving with me in the passenger seat and Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo in the back. I was watching the traffic around us carefully, waiting for the perfect moment to make my move.

Suddenly I saw a familiar car and quick as lightning I punched Sasuke in the head and grabbed the steering wheel. I pulled it hard to the right, making the car starting to tip over in the opposing lane. Just as I had hoped the car rolled over a couple of times before coming to a stop.

I quickly unbuckled my belt and then crawled out of the broken windshield, cutting myself in the process. I ran towards the familiar car that had screeched to a stop a little bit away. I could clearly see the shock on the drivers face as I opened the car door and slid into the passenger seat.

"What are you waiting for? Drive!" I told her as she only stared at me. That made Konan finally snap out of it and she quickly put her car in gear and drove back the same way she came from.

I felt my adrenaline crash and leaned back in the grey leather seat. I turned my head to look at Konan as she drove. She looked tired, as if she hadn´t slept well in a long time.

"Sakura… are… are you okay?" She asked me timidly, almost as if she was a little scared of me.

"No." Was my simple answer and she turned to look at me, searching for some reaction or emotion in my eyes. She found none.

"Everybody but Kakuzu and I are in another town searching for you… They will be so relieved to know you´re back." I didn´t answer her and soon we pulled up in front of the house I hadn´t been sure I´d ever see again.

Konan revved the car a few times before getting out of the car, she came around to help me out but I was already on my way towards the door. I knew I was bleeding but I refused to be out in the open any more than necessary. I longed for the safety of being inside this house. I knew I was being cold towards Konan but I´d had my emotions locked away for so long that I no longer was sure if I could go back to the way I was before…

Just as I reached the door, Kakuzu opened it and shock took place on his face. "Sakura?" I met his gaze with my own blank one and said.

"Hi Kazu." He looked at me, long and hard before saying.

"My bedroom, now." He started walking and I followed him, giving Konan a small wave as she headed towards the phone. I had no doubt that she was going to call the others.

Kakuzu locked the door behind me, as he did every time I came to him to talk or because I was injured. He then surprised me by hug me hard and tight against himself, not caring that my blood stained his clothes.

"Thank Kami you´re back…" I felt a tiny, tiny piece of my heart soften and come alive at hearing this and I actually hugged him back.

"Yeah I´m back…" My voice betrayed just how tired and weak I actually was. "But I´m not the same… I´m not sure I´ll ever be the same again…" I told him as he pushed me down to sit on his bed.

"We´ll help you, all of us will help you… But for now, can I examine you? I really think we should do a full scale exam…" He told me and I gave him the smallest of smiles before nodding.

"Sure." I then took of my clothes, leaving me in just my underwear, so that Kakuzu could examine my body. His eyes widened at the amount of new scars that showed on my body and he asked me. "What in Kamis name have they done to you?"

"At first there was the experimenting… they tried out new poisons on me, actually making me immune to most of them. Then they took away my two lowest ribs and increased my flexibility. Then they handed me over to Sasuke who used the days to beat me and the nights to rape me, I crashed their car to get away so I have a few cuts and bruises as well." I told him in an emotionless voice.

He only blinked at me, clearly not knowing what to say. I moved closer and put my finger over his lips. "Please just fix me up for now… We can deal with all the trauma and emotions and shit later can´t we?" He nodded hesitantly, clearly not happy to hear me say that.

"Only if you tell me what problems you have." I sighed knowing that I had to do that. I pulled him down to sit on the bed next to me and leaned my head against his shoulder before I started telling him.

"I don´t sleep more than two hours at the most each night, I barely eat, I… I cut again…" Kakuzu pulled me in for a hug and I let him before telling him what scared me the most. "I´ve locked away my emotions, I can´t feel much anymore and I can´t cry… and it… it scares me. Because I don´t know how to go back to normal…" Kakuzu held me tight and my body shook as if I were crying; only there were no tears.

"It´s okay Sakura, it´s just your body's defense mechanism. I promise that it will be as it used to when your body realizes that there is no more danger."

I nodded against him, relief filling my whole body and I let Kakuzu hold me until it felt better.

A few hours later Kakuzu, Konan and I were in the kitchen, they were trying to make me eat something when the front door opened and a frantic voice resonated through the house.

"Kakuzu!" I´d recognize that voice everywhere, it was Sasori.

"In the kitchen!" He yelled back and soon both Sasori and Deidara entered the kitchen, both of their gazes immediately locking onto me.

They looked tired, just as Konan did and they seemed to have lost a bit of weight as well. They stood still for about three seconds before enveloping me in a tight hug, but when neither of them showed any signs of letting go I told them.

"Guys, trouble breathing here." They immediately let go of me but didn´t move from my sides.

Sasori looked at me and asked the question I knew would come. "Sakura are you okay?" I didn´t answer him, instead I lowered my gaze and let Kakuzu tell them.

I didn´t want to see their eyes when they realized what had happened to me…

During the day Itachi, Kisame, Tobi and Zetzu also returned home all of them asking me the same question. When Pein came home I tensed up, I knew that he and Hidan had been searching together and I was actually a little scared of seeing Hidan again.

I sat on the bed in my room when Pein entered and I looked up to see relief in his eyes. "I´ve talked to Kakuzu." He told me and actually hugged me before turning to leave again. "Everything will be okay." Then I was alone again, but not for long.

"Sakura?" I spun around and my gaze locked with the one that I had missed the most, Hidan. He carefully took a step closer to me; it almost seemed as if he thought I would be afraid of him. But I didn´t allow any of that. My earlier fear was forgotten as I flung myself at him and clung to him desperately, as if he would disappear if I let him go.

"You´re back… You´re really back…" He murmured into my hair holding me tightly. He pulled away to look at me and gently held my face. "You´ve lost weight." He said and I looked away. I felt ashamed for my appearance once again.

"Hey don´t do that… please?" He begged me and I reluctantly faced him again. He found the scars after the needles on my arms and gently touched them. "What have they done to you…" He whispered before hugging me gently, placing a kiss on top of my head.

His caring gestures made something inside me snap and I answered him to the surprise of both of us.

"They tried out different poisons on me, I´m immune to most of them now." I then lifted my shirt up, showing him the scars where my ribs had been. "These are from when they took away my two lowest ribs." I told him as I let his fingers grace the raised scars. His eyes were wide but I didn´t stop, I didn´t think I could stop now…

I pulled my shirt off and showed him my back, covered in new and old scars. "Sasuke used to beat me just like my father before him." Then I turned around again and showed him a scar from where Sasuke had bitten me. "This I got during one of the times that he raped me. My eyes were burning now, wanting to shed tears but had lost the ability to do so.

"I don´t eat, I don´t sleep, I don´t feel anything anymore!" By now I was yelling at him and shaking like a leaf from the locked away emotions that couldn´t find their way out. Hidan grabbed me by my shoulders and held me so tightly that I had trouble breathing, saying.

"It will be alright Sakura, I won´t abandon you."

I pressed my face against his chest and then finally, I cried.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Sixteen**

I spend most of the night in Hidans embrace, crying my eyes out. But when dawn finally arrived, I felt a lot better. I had gotten back my emotions and now I was pissed, I was going to tear sound apart, piece by piece, until the only thing left was the memories.

I knew that it was not going to be easy, getting back to the person I was. But I knew that I could to it, and that was all I needed right now.

I sat at the kitchen table and was trying to make my body realize that it needed food; let´s just say that I was not succeeding. I pushed away the bowl of cereal, suddenly disgusted with its soggy appearance.

"You need to eat Blossom…" Said Deidara as he entered the kitchen. I knew that Kakuzu had told them what had happened to me and what problems I had so that they could help me.

"I know, tell that to my stomach…" I answered and closed my eyes, resting my head on my arms.

I heard him move around in the kitchen but didn´t look up until I heard him put something down in front of me. "Try this Blossom, un." I opened my eyes to see that he had put a bowl of fresh fruit cut into small pieces in front of me. He proceeded to pour some plain vanilla yoghurt in the bowl and then sat down in front of his own bowl.

I hesitantly put a spoonful in my mouth, chewing slowly. Then my eyes lit up, this was _good, _I _wanted_ to eat this! I quickly recognized that there was banana, pear, apple and strawberries in the bowl but there was a fifth fruit that I didn´t recognize… "What´s in this except from banana, pear, apple and strawberries?" I asked him.

"Mango." He answered and smiled at me as I quickly emptied the bowl. I put the now empty bowl in the dishwasher and gave Deidara a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you!" I told him and then I went back to my room to change clothes. I felt the need to train.

I quickly put on a pair of blood red shorts that went to my knees and hung low on my hips despite the drawstring. I then put on a simple black sports bra and put my hair up. When I arrived at the gym it was empty and I happily skipped to the stereo. I put on my favorite playlist with **Halestorm** and skipped to one of my favorite songs, **Daughters of Darkness.**

I quickly ran my 8 miles before changing the song to **I miss the Misery**, also by **Halestorm**, before deciding to do some stretching exercises. I tried to reach my toes with my legs straight and found out that without the lowest ribs it was almost too easy.

I tried reaching further backwards and soon found myself with my head actually between my knees, my legs still ram rod straight. I was clutching the edge of the mat, trying to bend even further when the door suddenly opened and Kisame entered.

"Hi!" I told him with a smile, my eyes widening in surprise as he simply turned white and fell to the ground, completely passed out. I quickly straightened myself and yelled for Kakuzu. I didn´t have to wait long before Kakuzu showed up. He took one glance at Kisame and asked me.

"What happened?"

"I don´t know, I was just stretching when he came in. He took one look at me and fainted." I told Kakuzu while leaning against the wall.

Kisame chose that moment to wake up again and Kakuzu asked him what had happened as well. Kisame just looked at me and said. "Humans aren´t supposed to be able to bend like that." That made Kakuzu look at me again as well and he then asked me.

"How exactly did you stretch?"

"Like this." I said and put myself in the same position as before Kisame decided to pass out on me. I looked at Kakuzu from my upside down position and saw that his eyes were huge and he too had paled a shade or two.

"Kisame is right, you shouldn´t be able to bend like that even with two ribs missing…"

"Oh… is it bad then?" I asked after I had straightened myself.

"I wouldn´t say that either… As long as it doesn´t hurt it´s not dangerous for you." Kakuzu said to me before leaving us again.

Kisame still looked a bit pale so I decided to end my training and go back to my room and shower. While in the shower, my mind wandered and some dark memories resurfaced.

_Flashback_

_"No… Sasuke please… please stop!" I begged him as he punched me in the stomach. "Why would I do that?" Was his eerily calm response as he kicked me in the knee. I fell down and he leaned over me, biting me hard in the neck before saying. "You are after all mine to do as I please with."_

I came back to reality when someone knocked on the closed bathroom door. "Sakura are you okay? You´ve been in the shower for over an hour now…" It was Hidans voice and he sounded slightly worried.

"I´m fine." I told him before turning off the water and getting out of the shower.

I dried myself off and put on dark red boy short panties and a matching bra before putting on one of Kisames hoodies. His shirt reached to my mid-thigh, making pants unnecessary and was a dark blue.

I entered my bedroom to find Hidan leaning against the wall, waiting for me. He took one look at my face before pulling me in for a hug, asking me. "Bad memories?" I nodded against him but then pulled away a bit to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah but how did you know?"

"You´re eyes looked haunted…" He answered and I locked my arms around his neck and kissed him. At first he froze, clearly thinking that I would have troubles with this because of Sasuke. He didn´t realize that he was so different from Sasuke that I didn´t have any troubles at all.

But I kept on kissing him and soon he relaxed and kissed me back. It didn´t take long after that for his hands to find their way beneath my shirt but just as it was getting good a knock on the door interrupted us.

Hidan went to his own room through our shared bathroom as I opened the door to find Deidara on the other side. "Hey Blossom, have you eaten, un?" I didn´t dare answer him and instead looked to the side, hoping he would just let it go. But I should´ve known better than to hope for that.

"You haven´t eaten since this morning, have you Blossom?" He said and then pulled me to him in a hug.

"Sorry…" I whispered but he only shook his head.

"Don´t be sorry Blossom, it´s not your fault. Come on, let´s go to the kitchen and get you something to eat." He answered and then started walking with me still pressed against his side.

I sat down at the kitchen table, waiting as Deidara worked on some food for me. I felt bad about keeping him up, it was rather late at night, and about making him cook for me. If my body didn´t tell me it wanted food then I didn´t need it, right?

I was so lost in my thoughts that I actually jumped a little when Deidara put down a plate in front of me. On the plate was a nicely cooked chicken breast, a small amount of rice and vegetables and some curry sauce.

I really didn´t want any food but I ate it anyway since Deidara had made it for me. He watched me eat but didn´t say much and it made me nervous. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I finally asked him.

"We´re worried about you Blossom, you haven´t reacted at all as we thought you would." At hearing him say that, I felt myself flare up with anger before I was overwhelmed with an immense sadness.

"Well, sorry for not doing what you expected then." I told him before I left the kitchen and locked myself in my bedroom.

Deidara stood outside my bedroom door for almost thirty minutes, trying to make me unlock the door or at least talk to him. I felt a little guilty about not answering him but I really didn´t want to talk to him or anybody else right now.

I sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. I held one of my knives in my hand and the sharp blade was resting against my collarbone. Tears fell silently down my face, I was so tired but still couldn´t sleep…

A sudden knock on my bathroom door made me flinch and accidently cut myself. I sighed as the blood started gushing from the rather deep cut beneath my collarbone. "What?" I asked the person on the other side of the door.

"It´s me, Hidan. Can I come in?" I glanced at my bedside clock and saw that it was almost 2:30 in the morning. I got up from the floor and unlocked the bathroom door, letting Hidan in.

His eyes immediately locked onto the bleeding gash and he quickly pressed a small towel against it, trying to stop the bleeding. "What happened?" He asked me as he started to drag me through our bathroom.

"When you knocked on the door I flinched and accidently cut myself." I told him truthfully but the look he gave me told me that he didn´t believe me. "You don´t believe me?" I asked him, my muscles tensing up. We were outside of Kakuzus bedroom now but since he didn´t answer me I took that as a no. It made me even more angry and sad and I quickly entered Kakuzus bedroom before slamming the door shut and locking it, effectively keeping Hidan out.

"What the! Sakura?" It seemed like I had woken up Kakuzu with my door slamming. I started crying; too much had happened tonight for my fragile mind to be able to deal with it. "Hey don´t cry Sakura… Tell me what happened." Kakuzu told me as he pushed me down to sit on his bed as he looked at the cut on my collarbone.

"First Deidara told me… that I didn´t… react as you thought I would… Then I got… angry and… sad and I locked… myself in my bedroom. Then Hidan… knocked, making me flinch… and I accidently cut myself. Then he… didn´t believe me… when I said that… it was by… accident!"

By now I was sobbing as well, making it hard for Kakuzu to examine my cut. He pressed the towel against the cut again before pulling me in for a hug. When I felt his strong, warm arms wrap around my body I broke down and clung to him almost desperately.

When I finally calmed down he told me that the cut needed stitches. I only nodded and soon he injected me with pain killer and begun stitching. "You believe it was an accident, don´t you?" I asked him with big, tear filled eyes. He nodded.

"Yes, I do believe it was an accident. Had you done it on purpose it wouldn´t have been so deep or in this angle."

I let out a sigh in relief and then asked him. "What should I do?"

"You shouldn´t have to do anything, I told all of the gang how to handle you but apparently they didn´t listen. I will talk to them in the morning." I felt myself relax and when Kakuzu laid me down on the bed before lying down next to me and pull the covers over us, I let him.

I laid my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around his middle. One of his hands rested on top of my arm, the other one holding me around my back. It didn´t take long for Kakuzus calm breathing to sooth me enough so that I fell asleep.

I woke up alone in bed but I saw Kakuzu sitting at his desk, working on some papers. I sat up and he told me. "There´s clean clothes for you in the bathroom and I´ve talked to Deidara and Hidan." I set course towards his bathroom.

"Thank you Kazu." I told him before locking myself inside his bathroom.

After a hot shower and some clean clothes, I almost felt as myself again. I left Kakuzus room and headed for the kitchen, thinking about making myself some breakfast. I stopped in the doorway however, since Deidara was in the kitchen and I wasn´t sure if I wanted to talk to him or not.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I turned around to come face to chest with my brother. "Please talk to him, he spend the whole night being sad and moody. I don´t think he meant something bad when he said that you didn´t react as expected." He squeezed my shoulder in a comforting manner before disappearing down the hallway.

I turned back around and saw that Deidara was standing still at the counter, his hands gripping the edge of the counter hard enough to turn his knuckles white. I carefully stepped towards him, thinking about what Sasori had told me. If Deidara really had felt so regretful then I would forgive him.

When I came closer I saw how tense he was, it was almost as if he expected me to still be angry with him. I put one hand on his rock hard shoulder and he gave a pained expression before turning to me. "I´m so sorry Blossom…" He opened his eyes and his usual sky blue; glittering eyes were dark and dull with obvious regret and sadness.

I hugged him, making him tense up even more, and told him. "It´s okay Deidei, I forgive you." I felt him finally relax his tense muscles and a weak smile entered his lips.

"Would you like some breakfast then Blossom?" I smiled back at him and said.

"I´d love some."

About an hour later I was searching the house for Hidan, now that I had fixed things with Deidara, I wanted to do the same with him. Even if he had really hurt me by not believing me…

When I finally found him it was on the attic of all places. He was sitting with his back toward me and hadn´t heard me enter. He was playing a guitar, and he was absolutely _gorgeous. _He had no shirt on and his usually slicked back hair was free from the gel and hung forward, hiding his eyes from view.

He played something that reminded me of a lullaby, its soothing tones calming my soul. Then he started singing, his voice dark and smooth like melted chocolate and velvet, and I was frozen in place. He had a _wonderful_ voice.

I didn´t move or say anything, I just listened to him singing. He sung about love, regret and sorrow, all in an amazing mix that made me both want to smile and to cry. I felt as if I could see inside his soul, like he had reached into the depths of his own heart to make this song.

All too soon it was over and as he put the guitar down, he caught sight of me, still standing frozen in time. His eyes widened and he quickly stood up, clearly afraid for some reason. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but I didn´t let him.

Instead I quickly went to him, locking my lips against his. He instinctively wrapped his arms around me to keep me steady as I forced my way into his mouth, hoping that he´d respond to me soon. He finally caught on and kissed me back as the worst shock of me being here went away. When we broke apart, both of us panting for breath, I told him. "That was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard in my entire life."

"You mean that?" He asked me, his voice strangely quiet. I nodded and said. "Yeah, I really mean that…" He kissed me again and when he finally let go of me, I was out of breath and my eyes was glazed over with something that I dared not say out loud.

He smiled at me before leaving me standing in the attic, the memory of what just happened my only company.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Lemons in this one people =)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Seventeen**

"Hey Kitten want to go to the pool with me and Itachi?" Kisame asked me from my doorway. It was only us in the house, the rest of the gang out on different missions.

"Sure I´ll meet you guys there." I told him and closed my book in favor of searching for one of my bikinis.

I soon joined them in the pool and we immediately started a water fight. It was me and Itachi against Kisame and we were actually winning, until he dragged me beneath the surface that is.

As soon as I went under, I was attacked by a memory that I had managed to suppress. I was back in the hands of Sasuke and he was attempting to drown me in a bath tub. He held me down by my shoulders and only let me up when I was about to pass out.

I panicked and Kisame immediately pulled me back up. I gulped down air I didn´t really need but I could feel an anxiety attack closing in on me. "Kitten what´s wrong?" Kisame asked me, both he and Itachi was looking at me worriedly. I felt my throat tighten, making it impossible for me to answer them.

"Let´s take her to my room, it´s the closest." Itachi said and got out of the pool. He then lifted me up and carried me away, Kisame following. He put me down on his bed, not caring that his bedding got all wet.

"Sakura, look at me. What´s wrong?" He asked me, one hand around my neck and the other one underneath my chin. My teeth were shattering in fear but I managed to get out a few words.

"Flashback… Sasuke…"

Itachi and Kisame shared a look before Itachi told him something I didn´t hear. Kisame left the room and Itachi turned towards me. I had managed to get my shattering teeth under control but instead my whole body had begun shaking.

He pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me in a hug before saying. "Tell me what my brother did." His voice was calm and soothing and I found myself telling him, not only about when he tried to drown me, but about all the other things as well.

When my voice died out Kisame had returned and sat in a chair, listening to me just as Itachi did. I shed no tears but instead sorrow had clawed its way inside my chest and was slowly eating at my heart.

Itachi send me into his shower to get warm, sitting in only a wet bikini had not been a good idea. As the hot water poured down my body I realized how lucky I was to have these guys as my family and a little bit of the sorrow disappeared.

I dressed in a pair of Itachis boxers and one of his t-shirts before going to the kitchen to look for some food, I actually felt hungry again. In the kitchen I found Itachi and Kisame again, it seemed that they too were hungry so perhaps my body was starting to get back its routines.

"You hungry Kitten? I made enough for you too." Kisame said from his spot at the stove and I could hear the hopefulness in his voice.

"Yeah I´d love some food… you need any help?" I asked him and his face got lit up by a smile.

"Nope, you just go sit and this will be done in a minute." He told me and I sat down next to Itachi at the table after getting a coke from the fridge.

The food was soon done just as promised and I found myself enjoying our silent meal immensely. We all helped cleaning up before moving to the living room to watch a movie. We ended up watching a horror movie witch made me scream when the front door suddenly opened and the rest of the guys came home.

We all gathered in the living room until the movie ended, when it did all went to their respective bedrooms. Except me. I clung to Hidans arm, begging him to not leave me alone. He just smirked at me and asked. "Are you scared of the darkness Cherry?"

"Only of what´s inside it…" I answered seriously, the scary movie forgotten. He paused for a moment before giving me a light kiss.

"Of course you can sleep with me; we can even have a sleep-over again if it´ll make you feel better."

I smiled at that, he really was a sweetheart when he wanted to be. I eagerly nodded and he left me in my bedroom to go and change into his pj:s. I decided that I could sleep in what I was wearing and instead lit some raspberry scented candles.

Suddenly two large hands landed on my hips and I yelped in surprise before turning around. I came face to chest with Hidan just as I had suspected and I hit him in the chest.

"Don´t scare me like that! I´ve told you that before…" I tried to sound angry but when he smiled at me I smiled back.

I pushed him to sit down on my bed before sitting down behind him, threading my fingers through his silky hair. I felt him lean back into me and while I continued massaging his scalp, I slowly leaned closer only to bite him in the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

Instead of flinching away or yelping in pain as I would have expected, he groaned in pleasure. When the first shock had disappeared, an evil little smile graced my lips and I made a trail with my tongue against his neck, making him almost purr.

I gently bit him just beneath his ear and tugged lightly on his hair, making him actually moan this time. Then he chuckled and said in a low voice.

"Oh you´re an evil little minx aren´t you Cherry…" he then spun around and pinned me to the bed, his face only centimeters from mine.

"Did you really think I was going to allow that?" He asked me with a smile and then latched on to my lips. I moaned, automatically giving him access to my mouth. Our tongues danced together and when we had to breathe again, he moved to my throat, sucking hard enough to leave a mark.

I returned the favor and felt Hidans warm hands gently massage my stomach. I moaned and he silenced me with a kiss before pulling off my shirt and then his own. Since I wore no bra underneath the shirt our bare chests rubbed against each other agonizingly wonderfully.

I pushed him to a sitting position and sat in his lap, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. He bent his head down and latched on to my pierced nipple with his mouth, eliciting a loud moan from me.

I pressed myself harder against him, arching upwards to give him better access. He growled against my throat before pushing me back down on the bed, ripping Itachis boxers off my body in the process.

I relaxed on the bed, not caring in the least that I was now completely naked. Hidan quickly disposed of his own remaining clothes before joining my naked body on the bed.

He placed butterfly kisses all over my body, making the heat in my stomach tighten into a knot. I gave him an impish smile before flipping us over and straddling his waist. I leaned down and kissed him before reaching down and slipping him inside me, making both of us moan.

I rode him, slow but steady, making him grip my hips hard enough to bruise. He helped me move a little faster, making both of our bodies tense up in preparation.

He suddenly flipped us, pushing me down in the soft mattress. He moved both hard and fast inside me, making me scream his name in mere seconds. He soon followed but not before flipping us again, making me the one to collapse on top of him instead of the reversed.

"I love you…" I whispered against his neck. "I love you too Cherry…" He murmured back and I smiled even though he couldn´t see that. It didn´t take long for either of us to fall asleep.

A few days later, Konan trapped me in the living room, telling me some things that I didn´t want to hear.

"You haven´t been out of the house since we got you back from Sound, are you afraid of going out?" I froze up, not wanting to answer her but knowing that I had to.

I gave her a small nod and then kept my head lowered, I was ashamed and didn´t want to look at her. Because of that I didn´t notice when Pein and Sasori entered.

When a hand landed on my knee I flinched and looked up to come face to face with Sasori, who was sitting next to me.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I sighed and rested my head on top of my arms.

"Isn´t it enough with all the other problems I have? Couldn´t this just go away on its own?" I asked him, my voice tired and sad.

"You know that´s not how it works…" Pein said from my other side. I sighed.

"I know, but what should I do about it then?" I asked him and he smiled at me before answering.

"Go out of course."

A few hours later, Pein, Konan and Sasori had managed to get me out to the garage and were now trying to get me inside the car. Sasori were already sitting in the backseat of Peins car and was trying to get me in there too.

"Please get in the car Sakura, no one´s going to hurt you in here." He pleaded with me. I sighed and gave up, they were clearly prepared to stay here all night if that was what it took.

"Fine, but only if I can sit in the middle." I told him and slid into the car.

"I can arrange that." Said Konan with a smile before she yelled.

"DEIDARA GET TO THE GARAGE NOW!"

We didn´t have to wait long before he showed up and she grabbed him and shoved him in the backseat with us before he had a chance to ask her what she wanted.

Since I now was trapped between Sasori and Deidara, Pein took the opportunity to get the car on the road. I was tense as a bowstring and clutched both Sasori and Deidara hard enough to give them bruises.

"Calm down Sakura, I´m not going to let anything happen to you." Sasori whispered in my ear making me loosen my grip a little.

"What are we doing?" Deidara asked from the other side of me and Pein told him about my problem.

"Then I suggest we drive until she feels safe in the car and then maybe go and get something to eat before heading back home." He said and the others agreed.

We drove all around town and after an hour or so I started to relax again, we pulled up in front of a fancy restaurant on the way back and I was relieved to see that the place had bouncers. The bouncers meant that nothing bad could happen to me inside the restaurant either.

When we arrived home I had a smile on my lips and my heart felt a little lighter as well. To see the little things my brother and Deidara did for each other, holding hands beneath the table, holding up the car door, a quick kiss when they thought nobody was watching.

It made me feel happy.

A few weeks passed calmly and all of my little problems started to disappear. I ate again, at least if someone reminded me. I didn´t get as many flashbacks or nightmares even though I still had trouble sleeping sometimes. I had no problems with going out of the house as long as I was not alone.

And I was finally going back out on missions.

I was going with Hidan and Kisame since Kakuzu had to take care of Itachi who had gotten a concussion the night before. We geared up as usual and headed toward the eastern border for our patrol.

I was calm but alert, I didn´t want any nasty surprises this time.

A crash was heard from inside an abandoned building and we quickly glanced at each other before getting closer. We snuck in undetected and discovered something that made me see red.

Sasuke and his team.

I forgot all about caution and launched myself at the bitch, Karin. She didn´t see me coming and fell to the ground underneath my weight. I had a good grip around her throat and I didn´t plan on letting go before she turned blue like Kisame. I heard the sounds of fighting around me but I didn´t take my gaze off Karin's now purple face and panicked eyes.

She finally stilled underneath my hands and with a satisfied smile I turned my attention towards the big guy, Jugo. I jumped on his back and before he realized what was happening I had broken his neck. It felt wrong to let him die that fast but I knew I wouldn´t be able to take him down otherwise.

Instead I looked around for Suigetsu and found him fighting against Kisame. I gestured for Kisame to go help Hidan fight Sasuke and he did it, even if it was unwillingly. I smiled a crazy smile at Suigetsu and saw him pale, he realized what was going to happen and that he could do nothing to stop it.

That didn´t mean that he didn´t try. I had to fight him both long and hard and he got in a few good hits on me before I got him down. I smashed his head in against the concrete floor, not caring that his blood painted me red.

At last I turned towards Sasuke but he seemed shocked to see that he was the only one left and stood completely still. Just as I was about to launch myself at him, strong arms wrapped around me and held me back.

"Enough Kitten." Kisames voice near my ear erased some of the bloodlust from me and suddenly I was terrified of what I had done. I had lost control. Kisame started to lead me back outside but when I heard the unmistakable sound of a cocking gun I quickly spun around again.

Hidan were a few feet behind us and Sasuke had his gun trained towards his head. I quickly grabbed Hidans hand and spun him around just as Sasuke fired the gun. I heard two bullets fly past my head by mere inches and felt the other four lodge themselves in my vest.

I felt when we landed on the ground but the pain in my back overshadowed everything else. I heard Hidans frantic voice in my ear.

"Sakura! Sakura are you okay?!" I let out a pain filled moan and heard Hidan swear. Suddenly someone lifted me off of Hidan and then I felt air rush by me as we ran back towards the car.

I let out another whimper of pain and heard Kisames voice close by.

"It´s okay kitten, the bullets are stuck in the vest. Hurts like hell but you´ll be alright. You probably saved Hidans life." I felt grateful for his words and soon he laid me down on my stomach in the backseat.

Then I heard the slamming of two doors and we were on our way back. I listened to Hidan calling someone as a way to distract myself from the pain.

"Kakuzu! Sakura got hit in the vest, four times and close range."

"Yeah she awake but I think she´s on the border of unconsciousness."

"Yeah we´ll be back in five."

We hit a hole in the road and I whimpered again and then closed my eyes, not being able to fend off the blackness any longer.

I woke up with a start and sat up, making me almost cry out in pain. I was in my bedroom, it was dark outside and I was alone. I slowly stood up and looked at my bare back in front of the mirror; it was all one big black-blue bruise.

I grimaced but popped two painkillers in my mouth and swallowed them with some water. Then I sat down at the bed again and moved to the middle of it before trying to remember what had happened.

I knew I had been on a mission with Hidan and Kisame and that something extreme had happened.

Suddenly the memories came back and my eyes widened as I remembered what I had done. I had killed three people. I could go to jail for this, I was a murderer!

Panic started to fill my entire being and small, desperate noises started coming out of my mouth. I was even to panicked to scream. I scooted backwards until I hit the headboard of the bed and couldn´t get any further. Tears streamed down my face as I desperately tried to get enough air, I wanted to scream and make Hidan come and help me but I hadn´t enough air to do that.

My hand found the small lamp on my bedside table and I gripped it tightly before I flung it against the far wall, making it shatter in a million little pieces. I hoped that the noise had been enough to wake up Hidan…

Suddenly my bathroom door was flung open and Hidan was here, looking franticly after the reason behind the sound. His eyes locked on me and softened before becoming worried.

"Sakura are everything okay?" I gasped for breath, trying to tell him what was wrong but didn´t succeed. He sat on the bed with me and pulled me against his chest so that I was sitting in between his legs.

He gently put his hand over my eyes, the other one making calm circles on my stomach. "Slow breaths Sakura" He told me and after a while I managed to calm down, but I was still upset.

"Care to tell me what´s wrong?" He asked me, voice low but caring.

"I… I killed them…" I whispered, leaning back against him.

"Yeah you did, it´s that what has you so upset?" I nodded and his hand slid from over my eyes down to the side of my throat.

"Why?" He asked while gently pressing kisses against the other side of my throat.

"Because… that makes me… a murderer." His hands had now moved again and were now cupping my breasts underneath my tank top, making it kind of difficult for me to answer him.

"No it makes you a survivor; they would have killed you if they had gotten the chance. Don´t forget that. Besides, you saved my life, isn´t that worth something?" He purred against me actually making a low moan escape my lips as his hands worked their magic and the now familiar heat low in my stomach started to appear.

He gently bit down on my neck before pulling off my tank top, the sudden skin on skin contact made me gasp, I hadn´t realized he had come in here without a shirt.

"Still worried?" He whispered in my ear and I shook my head no.

I felt him smirk against my skin before my shorts disappeared and his fingers played with my sensitive nub. I arched back against him and his other hand tightened around my breast. His hot breath fanned over my neck, making me shiver as I came closer and closer to the edge.

Suddenly he moved underneath me and I felt his hard length poke at my entrance. He slowly slid inside me, making me bury my nails in his thighs. The feeling of him fully inside me in this angle was incredible, his chest pressing against my back comfortingly.

He used his arms to move me up and down on him, making me feel that I was light as a feather. I kept my grip on his thighs as he pumped into me and I let my head fall back against his shoulder. When my orgasm hit everything went white and I heard Hidan grunt in my ear. He laid us down in the same position and then slowly exited me while pressing a kiss against the column of my neck.

The feeling of his chest moving behind me was soothing and soon I fell asleep once more.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Eighteen**

My back had finally healed after the shooting on my latest mission and I was now standing outside my brother´s door, hoping to convince him to allow me to get another tattoo.

I knocked on his door and then I waited. Soon the door opened but it wasn´t Sasori who had opened it, it was Deidara. "Hi Blossom, you want to talk to Sasori, un?" I nodded yes and he let me in while telling me. "He´s not here right now but he´ll be back soon." I sat on the bed and told him.

"That's okay, I can wait. I probably need the extra time to figure out something that will convince him anyway."

Deidara looked at me curiously and then asked. "What are you going to try and convince him about, un?" I gave Deidara a smile and said happy.

"I want to get him to let me get another tattoo; it's not my birthday until next month so I still need his permission."

"Why don´t you just wait another month then?" Deidara asked and I sighed.

"Yeah I could do that… But I don´t want to. I´ve got this supercool idea for a tattoo and I want it now, I want to show everyone the tattoo on my birthday…" I explained and I saw Deidaras eyes glitter with interest.

"If I help you convince Sori will you tell me what tattoo you want? I´ll keep it a secret, I promise, un."

"Sure Deidei." I said with a huge smile. "I plan to get a sakura tree with all of your names engraved on it. Then in the shadow of the tree I want to have a gravestone without a name, oh and about a third of the tree closest to the gravestone is going to be dead and the other two thirds are going to be alive and blooming."

Silence followed and I started to wonder if Deidara didn´t like my idea when he suddenly almost crushed me in a hug. "You really want all of our names tattooed on your body?" He sounded happy but had a slight hint of astonishment in his voice as well.

"Yeah, you guys are my family, of course I want to." I told him and he released me.

"I´ll convince Sori, you go and talk to Kakuzu." He told me before more or less shoving me out the door. I guess he liked the idea of his name on my body. I shrugged and went to talk to Kakuzu instead.

He was in his bedroom, going over some papers when I found him. "Hi Kazu!" I told him happily while sitting down on the edge of his desk. He took one look at me and asked me.

"What do you want Sakura?"

"Well, I would like another tattoo… please?" Kakuzu put away his papers before turning to fully face me.

"Do you have Sasoris permission?" I bit my lip and was about to answer him 'not yet' when another person answered for me.

"Yes she does." I turned my head to see Sasori standing in the doorway, looking as if he had known about this for weeks and not only minutes. I gave him a thankful smile and watched him walk away, a smile on his lips as well. I turned back towards Kakuzu to see what he would say.

"When do you want to do it then?" He simply asked me and I took a quick look at the clock before asking him.

"Today perhaps? If you have time and don´t mind spending the evening with me?" He only looked at me, surprise clear in his eyes.

"The evening? How big tattoo are we talking about?" I smiled against him.

"I was thinking about a back piece actually…"

He looked at me for a long time and I was starting to fear he would say no when he nodded and said. "Fine, be ready to leave in an hour." I eagerly nodded and hurried back to Sasoris room, hoping to find Deidara there.

I did and asked him to draw a sketch of my new tattoo which he eagerly agreed to. I then went to the kitchen and packed some food for me and Kakuzu. Right before we left, I got the sketch from Deidara, it was beautiful and he had added my name over the tree, making the picture even better.

When I showed Kakuzu the sketch he got all silent before hugging me as well. It seemed like this was going to be a success after all, if all of them would react like this when seeing my new tattoo.

It took Kakuzu many long hours before my new tattoo was finished, but it was totally worth it. The tree looked amazingly alive and my name across my shoulders was inky black and hot neon pink.

When Kakuzu had wrapped my back and we were about to go back to the car, he stretched his back out and I could hear some of his vertebras pop. I frowned as he grimaced at the pops but didn´t say anything until we were in the car heading home.

"Does your back hurt?" I asked him, still frowning.

"Nothing to worry about Sakura, it always gets like this after long tattoo sessions." His answer didn´t make me feel any better. Instead it made me feel rather guilty…

"Well anyway when we get back, I´m giving you a back rub." I told him with a smile that made him chuckle.

But things didn´t go as smooth as I had hoped when we came home, Pein was waiting for us at the garage and he didn´t seem too happy.

"Sakura I´ve called you seven times, why didn´t you pick up?" I looked at my phone and saw that he had indeed called me seven times; I also saw that the sound was turned off.

"Sorry Pein I had it on soundless." I told him.

"Okay, anyway I need you to go and talk to Konan for me. She´s been acting weird all week but she won´t tell me what´s wrong, perhaps she will talk to you." He said a hint of worry visible on his face.

"Sure, I´ll go talk to her." I said before turning to Kakuzu, telling him. "I´ll find you later, don´t disappear on me." Then I made my way inside the house, walking towards Konans room.

She was in her room just as I had suspected, but the door was locked and I could hear faint sounds of crying from the other side. I knocked lightly on the door.

"Konan? Are you alright? It´s Sakura, will you let me in?" The crying stopped and a red-eyed Konan opened the door and let me in before she locked it again. Her room was a mess, there were used tissues everywhere and it looked like she had thrown her pillows around.

Now I understood why Pein was worried. I hugged her gently against me and asked her.

"Konan what´s wrong? You know you can tell me everything, right?" She only nodded before her eyes filled up with tears and she clung to me like I was her lifeboat in a stormy ocean.

I held her until she stopped crying and then asked her again what was wrong. She looked at me, a million different feelings flashing across her face before she told me.

"I´m pregnant Sakura."

I was shocked at first but then I became confused. If she was pregnant shouldn´t she be happy? Why all the tears?

"Then why are you so upset? You should be happy." I told her and she sighed before sinking down to sit on the bed.

"I am happy… but I am also scared, I don´t know how to tell Pein. What if he gets angry with me? What if he doesn´t want children and tells me to do an abortion? I could never do that…"

"I don´t think you need to feel anything other than happiness. I´m sure Pein will be happy as well." I told her.

"You really think that?" She asked me, looking up at me with a hopeful expression. I nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I do. Now how far along are you? Have you thought about names? Can I help decorate the nursery?"

I knew I was going over the top with all my questions but at least I made her smile. We spend the next two hours talking about everything that was remotely connected to babies and when I left her she let Pein in and a smile decorated my face.

It seemed as if we all would get some happy news tomorrow.

I went to my room and changed into a pair of black silk pajama pants and Hidans reaper shirt before I walked through our bathroom to his bedroom.

But he wasn´t there, instead I found a note on his pillow that explained that he and Itachi and Kisame were out on a night patrol and that he would be back by morning. I frowned and walked back to my own bedroom.

I had trouble sleeping alone and Hidan had never been away for a night before. I would not be able to stay with Itachi or Kisame since they were out with Hidan. I would not be able to stay with Konan or Pein either and Tobi and Zetzu were out of town again.

That left Sasori, Deidara and Kakuzu. Sasori and Deidara would surely let me stay with them but that could be uncomfortable since they probably already have gotten to bed.

That left Kakuzu, and I owed him a back rub.

I walked across the hallway and knocked on his door, hoping he was still awake. I smiled when he opened the door and asked him in my best 'I´m innocent and cute' voice.

"Hey Kazu can I stay with you tonight? Hidans out and I have trouble sleeping on my own…" He opened the door wider without a word and let me in. I happily skipped in and jumped onto his bed. He followed me more slowly and turned off the lights, leaving only a small bedside lamp on.

He lay down next to me on the bed and I told him to roll over on his stomach. He gave me a suspicious glare and I giggled before telling him.

"Relax Kazu, I owe you a back rub remember?" I saw him relax and he actually rolled over on his stomach, I had thought that I would have to talk him into that; he must really be in pain since he´s complying.

I straddled him and started on working out the knots in his tense muscles. He was so tall that I actually sat on the small of his back but that didn´t seem to bother him since he actually fell asleep while I was massaging him. I lied down beside him when i was satisfied that he would not be in any more pain by morning and covered us both with the covers before turning off the remaining light and went to sleep myself.

_I was back in the sound hideout but something was different, everything was covered in blood and everyone was dead. I walked slowly through the compound, looking for someone still alive that could tell me what had happened._

_I entered a room with a huge fireplace that housed an impressive fire. In the middle of the room was Sasuke standing._

_"I see you finally found me, are you satisfied with my gift to you?"_

_I looked down and saw that I was dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress._

_Suddenly he appeared right in front of me, making me take a step back._

_"Are you afraid of me Sa…ku…ra?"_

_I shook my head no but he came a step closer and whispered in my ear._

_"You should be."_

_Then he pushed me in the blazing fire._

I woke with a start and sat up before taking a big breath of air and screamed. I could feel Kakuzu spring into action next to me but I couldn´t make the screams stop.

He pressed his hand over my mouth to silence the screams and he held me against his chest with his other arm.

"Hush Sakura, it was only a nightmare…" He tried to sooth me with words but it only made my screams turn into tears. But he held me as I cried and soon the closeness of him and the heat from his body lulled me back to sleep.

The next morning when all of us where eating breakfast together (except for Tobi and Zetzu since they were still away) Pein actually gave all of us a huge smile and I knew that Konan had told him.

The smile made Hidan rub his eyes, he probably thought he was delirious from sleep deprivation since he, Itachi and Kisame had yet to go to sleep and we almost never saw Pein smiling.

"I have something to tell all of you, though I suspect that Sakura already knows… Anyway there are going to be some changes around here soon so you better be prepared."

"Just tell us what this is all about so I can go to sleep." Kisame said grumpily, clearly he thought that Pein was talking too much. It made me giggle as Pein glared at him.

"Fine, Konan is pregnant."

There was immediate silence in the kitchen as everybody tried to comprehend what he had just told them, then the congratulations came and after that the questions.

I saw Hidans eyes glitter when Pein announced that Konan and him were having a baby and felt a pang in my heart. I still hadn´t told him that I couldn´t have children.

I left the kitchen and went to the attic. I sat down on the floor behind an old closet so that I was not visible from the door. I remembered when I had found Hidan up here, playing his guitar and singing.

I closed my eyes, I knew I had to tell him that I couldn´t have children but I was still scared of doing just that. I hoped nobody had noticed that I left, I didn´t want Pein and Konan to believe that I was not happy for them because I was. But at the same time they reminded me of what I could never have.

Hidan had once asked me who he was to me, but who was I to him?

I knew I loved him and I wanted to spend my life with him, but what did he want?

Did he want things to stay as they were? Did he want me to move into his bedroom? What did he want?

These questions circled in my head almost all day. I sat on the floor in the attic and pondered my relationship with Hidan and I didn´t notice how fast the time passed. I didn´t realize that I missed both lunch and dinner.

I only noticed that it was dark outside when somebody opened the door and called my name.

"Sakura? Are you here?"

"Yeah I´m here…" I answered but didn´t move from my spot, my head was still filled with different thoughts.

Hidan sat down in front of me and gently lifted my head to meet his gaze.

"Is there something wrong Cherry? I thought you would be happy that Konan is pregnant?"

"I am happy…" I told him absent mindedly and he frowned at me.

"You don´t look very happy."

I stared at the floor and cursed the lone tear that made a track down my cheek before falling on the dusty floor.

"Hey what´s wrong Sakura?"

Hidans voice instantly softened and I inwardly flinched from his gentleness.

"I´m scared you´ll get upset with me… You once asked who you were to me, but who am I to you?" Hidan didn´t hesitate before he answered me.

"I will not get upset with you, I love you, what is it about that that you find confusing?"

"I don´t know…" I admitted while resting my forehead against his collarbone. "Do you want things to stay as they are? Do you want to share a bedroom? And what about marriage and children? I can´t…"

I cut myself off, almost telling him that I could not have children. I would tell him but I didn´t think that was the way to do it.

"Calm down Sakura, if you´re worrying about it we can talk about it, no problem. I would love to share a bedroom with you but I don´t want you to feel stressed about it. We could convert one of our bedrooms to a living room of sorts if you wanted. I´m not interested in marriage but I wouldn´t mind getting you a ring, as to mark you as mine. And children…"

I cut him off here, telling him.

"There is something you should know about me."

He gave me a confused look.

"I thought I knew most about you…"

"You do, but not this. Only Konan knows about it, I haven´t told anyone else, not even Kakuzu or Sasori." I told him and kept my gaze on the floor again. He said nothing, instead waiting for me to continue.

"I… I can´t have children… I can´t get pregnant. I´m broken." I admitted and then waited for Hidans reaction. He surprised me by wrapping me in a hug, asking me in a soft voice.

"That´s what has you so worked up? I don´t care about that, as long as I have you I´m happy." He told me and a small smile grazed my lips.

"Does that mean that you´re not upset with me? Cause I´ve been really worried…"

"Of course I´m not upset you silly girl, didn´t I tell you that I love you only a few minutes ago?"

"I love you to." I said and kissed him. "Does this mean I get to move in your bedroom? Your pillows are nicer than mine…"

"Of course you can move into my bedroom, it´s not as if you don´t already spend the nights there though."

"Tch, it´s not the same thing… And if you want to buy me a ring, my birthday is coming up soon!" I told him happily before leaning in and whisper in his ear.

"But I´ll only wear the ring on my ring finger if you get yourself a matching one…"

He hugged me tighter to him in response and I giggled.

I hadn´t thought that things could get better between us but I guess I was wrong…


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**AN: Lemon in this one =)**

**Chapter Nineteen**

The month flew by in a rush of doctor's appointments with Konan and Pein, furniture shopping with Hidan and regular patrol missions.

The night when Hidan discovered my new tattoo was rather amusing but in the end I got the same reaction as from Deidara and Kakuzu.

I suspected that they planned something for my birthday since they stopped their conversations when I entered the room, but I had yet to find any real evidence.

I had moved all my clothes and some other stuff into Hidans bedroom and my bedroom was now our 'living room'. My bed and dresser was replaced by a huge, dark grey, soft and comfy couch and a big 46" inch TV was in front of it.

It was the perfect movie room.

I was in the kitchen, eating a fruit while waiting for Konan and Pein to return from the first ultrasound when Itachi joined me. He leaned against the counter I was sitting on and I tugged lightly on his ponytail, making him turn and face me.

"What are you thinking about Tachi?" He gave me a serious look and I felt myself go serious as well.

"Do you want my brother dead?" Was his simple question. I felt myself freeze in a position that screamed panic. I did want his brother dead, I just didn´t think I could bear the thought of telling him that.

But apparently my silence was enough answer because he gave me the simple answer.

"I see." And then he once again left the kitchen, leaving me confused and kind of sad.

I hadn´t want to hurt him with the truth.

I was still standing frozen in the kitchen when Konan and Pein arrived a few minutes later. I took one look at Konans happy face and Peins shocked one before a big smile grazed my lips and I asked them.

"Well, how did it go?" Konan gave me a wide smile before answering.

"It went great! Everything´s fine and we´re actually having twins!" She told me happily before continuing inside the house. I patted Peins back as he walked pass me and told him.

"It´ll be fine, don´t worry." He gave me a grateful smile before he too disappeared.

The day passed calmly as most of the guys were out and I spend the day trying to figure out what to do about Itachi. Finally I sought out my brother, hoping that he could give me some answers.

I found him and Deidara in the gym, sparring, but as soon as I entered the room they stopped and focused on me instead.

"Sori could I talk to you for a minute?" I asked him and he only nodded once before giving Deidara a light kiss on the lips and following me out of the room.

I didn´t stop until we were securely locked inside mine and Hidans bedroom, but then I turned towards him and asked him.

"Itachi asked me if I wanted Sasuke dead and now I don´t know what to do… I didn´t answer him but I think that he knew my answer anyway…" Sasori frowned and thought both long and hard before he answered me.

"I think you should go and talk to Kisame about this. Kisame and Itachi were partners in the navy and as far as I´m aware they´re also best friends." I felt the need to smack myself, why hadn´t I thought of that?

"Thanks Sori, I´ll go and do that." I told him and gave him a hug before leaving him in search for Kisame.

I found Kisame in his room and I knocked on his open door before entering and locking the door behind me.

"Kisame we need to talk." I told him and he looked up from the book he was reading.

"About what?" Was his calm reply.

"About Itachi. He approached me this morning and asked me if I wanted his brother dead." Kisame frowned at hearing this.

"What did you say then?"

"Nothing, I didn´t know what to say but after a while he said 'I see' and left me. I didn´t want to hurt him but I´m afraid that I did that anyway…" I sat down next to him on the bed and hid my face in my hands, tears burning at the corners of my eyes.

I felt Kisames large hand land on my back and I looked up to meet his gaze before telling him.

"I really want his brother dead but not if it means that Itachi are going to hate me for it." Then the tears escaped from my eyes and Kisame pulled me closer, wiping them away with his free hand.

"I can see why you are worried; they are after all brothers by blood. But you need to talk to Itachi and tell him this, I´m not sure how he feels about his brother after what he did to you, perhaps you and Itachi can come up with a solution that both leaves you feeling safe and Sasuke still alive?" Kisame said.

"But what if he gets angry with me?" I asked him and blinked away the few remaining tears.

"Itachi is not a person who gets angry easily, I doubt that you will be able to anger him by only talking." Kisame reassured me and I nodded a weak smile on my lips.

"Thanks Kisa." I told him and left his room in search for Itachi.

It was getting late so I figured that Itachi probably was in his room just as Kisame had been in his. I knocked on his door and then waited nervously for him to open. When he did open, he had a tired, sad look in his eyes that made me feel extremely guilty. He was clearly worried about me wanting his brother dead.

"Hey Tachi, can we talk?" I asked him with my eyes towards the floor. He didn´t answer but he opened the door wider, letting me into his bedroom. "Thanks…" I whispered as I passed him before sitting down on his bed.

"This is about this morning, yes? I know you didn´t want to say out loud that you wish my brother dead but I got the message anyway." He told me before sitting down in his desk chair.

I felt even guiltier then before. I could hear the pain in his voice and the effort it took to not let me know how much he hurt. To my amazement I could not detect any resentment towards me.

I wrapped my arms around my legs, making me as small as possible before gathering enough courage to tell him what I had told Kisame.

"Yes I do want your brother dead, but not if it will make you hate and resent me for it. Even if I´ll only be truly free without him living it´s not worth it, your well-being is worth more." I said without looking at him. I was kind of scared of his reaction despite Kisames calming words.

But Itachi didn´t answer me right away. Instead I looked up to see him kneel in front of me, his dark red eyes locked onto mine. His eyes showed an entire whirlwind of emotions that never made their way onto his face.

Sadness, regret, guilt, hope, fear and relief were only a few of them.

"Are you actually saying that despite what my brother did to you and the threat he are to you, you are willing to let him live? Because of me?" I nodded.

"I don´t want to do that to you…"

He cut me off by giving me a hug hard enough to give me trouble breathing and he didn´t seem inclined to let go any time soon. I couldn´t help but smile, Itachi Uchiha who was famous for being completely emotionless was hugging me and by the shaking of his shoulders I wouldn´t be surprised if he actually cried as well.

I wrapped one arm around his waist, pulling him closer, and let the other one gently pet his hair.

"It will be alright, we´ll figure something out." I told him in an attempt to sooth him. He lifted his head from my shoulder and instead let his forehead rest against mine.

"If you are willing to let Sasuke live, I will make sure that he never again will be able to hurt you or anyone else. I´ll hand him over to our cousin Madara, he´s the manager of the maximum security section of the psychiatric ward in city jail." He told me, his eyes closed.

"You´ll be safe with him in Madaras care, I promise this on my own life."

"I believe you." Was my simple answer.

The next few days were stressful but at the same time calm. Pein and Konan emptied the room next to theirs and installed a joining door to what would become the nursery.

And I had a feeling that the plans for my birthday party were almost done, if Konans mischievous smile was any indicator at least.

I felt stressed, restless, but I didn´t know why. Maybe I had been in the house for too long, maybe it was because of something else. I didn´t know but when I had tried to read a book and not getting further then the first five pages in two hours I gave up and threw the book across the living room, almost hitting Tobi in the head with it.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Tobi yelled and then proceeded to jump over the back of the couch I was sitting in, suddenly straddling my stomach and keeping me down with only his weight.

"Hi Tobi." I said more calmly before looking towards the doorway, Tobi almost never went anywhere without Zetzu for some strange reason. I would have thought that Tobi would be glued to Itachis side since they were cousins but for some reason it was Zetzu that had gotten Tobi´s attention.

"Looking for someone? **Will I do?**" I heard Zetzu say from my other side, how he had managed to sneak by me without me noticing was a mystery that no longer surprised me.

"Hi Zetzu, how long are you guys staying this time?" I asked him. I knew that they spend most of their time out of the city and they usually only stayed in the house with us for one week each month. What they did when they were out of town I was too afraid to ask, I suspected that I didn´t want to know the answer.

"We´re staying for a couple more days at least. **We we´re wondering if you wanted to come with me and Tobi on a little adventure?**"

"Please say yes Sakura-chan! It will be so much fun! We´re going to a secret place of Tobi's!"

I knew that between Zetzu´s calm and Tobi´s childlike behavior I would have a good time no matter where we went, so I didn´t spend much time thinking about the offer before agreeing to go with them.

"Dress warm, **we won´t be back until late**." Zetzu told me and then they left me to prepare.

I went to mine and Hidans bedroom and rummaged around in his closet before I found a backpack I could use. I was wearing jeans and t-shirt and decided that the safest course of action would be to bring a change of clothes.

I packed a new round of clean underwear, a pair of jeans, another t-shirt and a warm hoodie. I also packed a bottle of water and a flashlight just in case.

Hidan had left a dark red hoodie on the bed which I put on over my t-shirt, it reached below my butt and the sleeves were long enough to cover my hands if I wanted to. At last I grabbed a jacket from my part of the closet before pulling on some boots and making my way to the garage. I had left a note to Hidan where I was and I was getting excited to see this 'secret place' of Tobi´s.

Zetzu and Tobi were already at the car and when I put my backpack in the back I saw that they each had a backpack as well as another bag with them. I took my place in the front, Zetzu slid in behind the wheel and Tobi got in the backseat before we pulled out of the garage and into the jungle that was the city.

I was surprised when we left the city behind us but even more surprised when Zetzu turned in on a small road in the middle of a thick forest. Tobi was bouncing in the backseat so we were apparently on the right road even if it didn´t seem like that to me.

But when the road finally ended we were at the most beautiful place I had ever seen. It was a large clearing in the middle of the thick and old forest. It had a river running through it and the only sounds were those of the birds and wildlife.

It was like the physical form of the word calm.

At first I was so stunned by the beauty of this place that I hadn´t noticed that both Zetzu and Tobi were quiet and waited for my reaction.

"Does Sakura-chan like Tobi´s secret place?" Tobi asked me, his voice unusually calm and soft.

"I love your secret place Tobi…" I answered without taking my eyes of the pretty scenery in front of me. I got out of the car and made my way across the clearing.

The trees were tall and proud, telling me they were old, and their leaves had taken on the colors of autumn, red, yellow and brown. The ground beneath me was covered in grass and not a stone was in sight. The river was wild yet seemed controlled and the fast passing water was clear and cold.

When I was satisfied with my small exploration I turned towards the guys. They had laid out a blanket on the ground and a picnic basket was also present. Zetzu were standing by the blanket, watching me with a small smile, while Tobi were standing only a few feet away, almost vibrating with happiness.

I launched myself at Tobi and we fell to the ground, me on top of him.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I told him and hugged him hard against me.

"You´re welcome Sakura-chan." He answered me, his voice suddenly dark and mysterious but still telling me about the smile behind his mask. His darker voice made me shiver, but I was not afraid, I had heard it before and knew he did that when he was really serious about something.

After we had gotten up I took off running only to launch myself at Zetzu next, making him fall to the ground as well.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" It was his turn to be showered in my gratefulness and I was determined to show both of them how much this trip meant to me.

"You´re quite welcome Sakura, **it is after all one of our favorite places too.**"

While I was thanking Zetzu, Tobi unpacked the picnic basket and suddenly there were a lot of sandwiches as well as hot chocolate that craved my attention.

We ate and talked and suddenly it was getting dark outside. We enjoyed the last of the chocolate while watching the first stars appear on the night sky before getting everything back in the car and returning home.

As soon as the car started moving I fell asleep against Tobi´s shoulder in the backseat, I smile still painted on my lips.

I woke when someone lifted me out of the car and carried me away. I opened one eye and saw that it was Hidan who was carrying me. I snuggled closer to his warm body and felt him chuckle at me.

I heard a door close behind me and then I fell through the air only to land safely on the bed. I snapped my eyes open and glared at Hidan.

"Don´t do that to me! How many times do I have to tell you?"

I tried to be angry with him but when he plopped down beside me on the bed and nuzzled my neck, I felt the small amount of irritation melt away and be replaced with something much hotter.

"Sorry…" He purred against me and I smiled at him before pressing my lips against his in a soft kiss. He froze for a second before returning the kiss, pushing me down to lie on my back at the same time.

He kept his lips locked onto mine, barely letting me breathe, and I could feel his hands making their way up underneath my shirt to caress my stomach and ribs.

He gently tweaked my nipples, making me moan and giving him entrance to my mouth. His tongue wrestled with mine and while he won that battle, I managed to get off his shirt, giving me a clear view of his god-like abs.

He continued the assault on my mouth as his hands found new trails over my body, making me shiver in anticipation of what I knew would follow.

Suddenly my clothes were gone and his hot mouth was all over me, kissing, licking and gently biting. I moaned and dug my nails into his shoulders, surely leaving marks.

His mouth descended on my core and with the help of his clever fingers he had soon brought me to my peak. I flipped us and with a mischievous smile I took his length in my mouth.

I heard him gasp and then I felt his hands nestle in my hair, attempting to control my movements. I bobbed my head up and down while humming; creating a vibration in my throat that nearly drove him crazy.

"Sakura I´m going to…" He tried to pull me away but instead I only sucked harder, making him come almost against his will. He fell back against the mattress and I slowly climbed up to lay down next to him, licking my lips in the process.

His eyes were glued to my lips and after a quick look down I could see that he was already getting hard again.

He gave me a predatory look and then I was on all four, his mouth pressed against the back of my neck, his tongue licking a trail down my spine.

I shivered and unconsciously pressed myself closer to him, he took the opportunity to slid inside me, making both of us moan. I gripped the sheets tightly as he started to move inside me with a pace that left me breathless.

His hands almost left bruises on my hips but I didn´t care as I got closer and closer to the edge for the second time that night. The movement of his hips got more erratic and I knew that he was close as well.

Suddenly I came, hard and fast and Hidans name left my lips in a scream before the world around me went black.

When I came to I was sprawled out on my stomach, Hidan lying next to me with a satisfied look on his face.

"Hidan…?" I murmured in my pillow, confused about the smugness on his face.

"How do you feel Sakura?" He asked me, a glimmer in his eyes making me believe he found something funny.

"I feel fine, why?" I told him, already suspecting what he was going to say.

"I made you blackout." He told me, a huge smile on his lips. I sighed before laying my head on his chest, using him as a pillow.

"Yeah, you did."


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Twenty**

I woke slowly to the sound of singing. The chest I used as a pillow kind of vibrated so it was safe to assume that it was Hidan who sang.

Suddenly I remembered that it was my eighteenth birthday and I realized that Hidan sang 'Happy Birthday' to wake me up. I lifted my head and silenced him with a kiss.

"Thank you." I told him, earning a smile in return.

"We better get up, it´s almost ten and I know there is breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen." He said and only let me use the bathroom and brush my hair before leading me to the kitchen despite me still being in my pajamas.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA!"

I almost fainted at their rather loud greeting, I was only half awake and hadn´t really been looking where I was going. But now I looked up to see that all of the gang had gathered in the kitchen clearly intent on celebrating this day with me.

Even the stoic Itachi Uchiha had a small smile visible on his face.

I was pushed down to sit on a chair at the table, food covered every surface in the kitchen and the only thing missing was apparently me.

"Guys I… I don´t know what to say…"

"You don´t need to say anything Saku, we just want you to have fun and enjoy yourself." Sasori said from the chair next to mine.

I focused my gaze on him for almost a full minute without saying anything before I turned and faced all of them, exclaiming.

"I love you guys…"

With that said we enjoyed the amazing breakfast which was finished with a huge cake courtesy of Konan. When I left the kitchen to get back to my bedroom and get dressed, I was stopped in the hallway by Deidara and Kakuzu.

"Come on Blossom, we need to get you ready un!" Deidara told me and started dragging me in the direction of his bedroom.

"Ready for what?" I asked them, confused, and Kakuzu told me with a tone that said he thought I was an idiot.

"You´re birthday lunch of course."

"Lunch? But we just had breakfast!"

"Believe me, when we´re done with you, you´ll be hungry again." Deidara said with a smile that almost scared me.

He led me into his bedroom but didn´t let go of my hand until we were in his bathroom.

"Put on this bikini, I´ll be back in two minutes." He commanded me and gave me a beautiful scarlet bikini with gold rings in the sides. I stared after him when he closed the door; I was extremely confused but did as he had told me anyway.

When he came back Kakuzu was with him and while Kakuzu drew a hot bath for me, Deidara took a look at the new tattoo on my back. He had helped draw it but he had not seen it.

"Oh Kami this is the most beautiful tattoo I´ve ever seen, this must be you´re greatest piece Kakuzu."

"Yeah, It´s something to be proud over indeed."

I had never heard Kakuzu and Deidara agree on something before so I was stunned silent. I loved my tattoo and thought that it was the most beautiful one ever made, I hadn´t thought that I would get the same reaction from my boys. Deidara directed me into the bath and surprisingly started to wash my hair, his fingers treading through my hair without resistance.

When the last suds where rinsed from my hair I was wrapped in a giant towel and led to Deidaras bed where I was told by Kakuzu to lie down on my stomach. I did as told and moaned in bliss when his talented hands started working on massaging my back.

I think I fell asleep during the massage because when I looked at the clock the next time, three hours had passed. I sat up and quickly realized that someone had put on some lotion all over my body, my skin was unusually soft and smelled a little like sea and coconuts.

I was still only in the red bikini and the towel but someone had also put a thick blanket over my body, preventing me from getting cold. I stood up in the same moment as Deidara entered the room.

"Good you´re awake." He said happily and gave me a dress. "Put this on please, I´ll go and get Kakuzu."

I felt once again confused but I did as I was told, I was sort of curious of what would happen next. I found clean underwear on the bathroom counter but there was no bra in sight which concerned me a little.

But I ignored it for now and instead put on the dress. It was black but not solid black, more black with a dark red tint. It ended mid-thigh but didn´t feel too short and it moved nicely when I twirled in front of the mirror. It had a halter neck with a rather deep but narrow neckline, showing just the right amount of cleavage. It also had a built in bra, thank Kami...

The dress had absolutely no back, effectively showing off the tattoo that only Hidan, Kakuzu and Deidara had seen. Underneath the dress I wore a pair of black silk panties and black tinted stay-ups along with a pair of black, high heeled pumps. Deidara came back and I turned around and faced him.

"Holy shit! If I wasn´t gay I´d date you for sure." He told me with his jaw hanging wide open. It made me smile.

"Thanks Deidei…"

"Well, let´s see if I can take my eyes off of you long enough to do your hair then Blossom." He joked and I chuckled in response before sitting down in the appointed chair. While Deidara worked on my hair, Kakuzu returned with what to me looked like jewelry.

But as soon as the door shut behind him he stopped and only stared at me.

"Kazu? Are everything okay?" I inquired, a little bit worried.

"He´s fine Blossom, only stunned at your beauty." Deidara reassured me and Kakuzu managed to get his mouth to work again.

"Yeah, I´m fine." He agreed and then put the box of hopefully jewelry down on the dresser.

"I´m done, take a look Sakura." Deidara told me and gave me a small handheld mirror. I angled the mirror so that I could see the back of my head and gasped at how beautiful it looked.

My short hair was pinned up with pins that looked like diamonds and glittered even in the fade light in Deidaras bedroom. He had also used a hairspray that contained a small amount of glitter as well.

Kakuzu opened the box and pulled out perhaps the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen, making my eyes widen in awe. The necklace was a thin but strong silver chain that held a tiny rose made of ruby and emerald. The flower itself of course was made of red ruby and the stem was made of dark green emerald.

"Oh Kami… This is the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen Kazu…" I finally managed to get out while turning around, allowing him to clasp it around my neck.

"That´s what we´re hoping for Blossom, the outfit and accessories are our birthday present to you." Deidara told me while holding up a black leather jacket for me to put on, the jacket would hide my tattoo until I felt like showing it to everybody else.

But the jacket itself was just as pretty as everything else. The hardness of the leather and the zippers made a nice effect against the softness of the dress and hair.

"Aw! You guys are awesome and I love you!" I exclaimed, extremely happy with my new look. And if the smug looks on Deidara and Kakuzu were anything to go by, they were rather satisfied with the result as well.

"Now I only need Konan to help me with the make-up…" I mumbled to myself. But the guys heard me and offered to go and get her so I wouldn't have to show myself before we were leaving.

I didn´t have to wait long before Konan came rushing through the door, an enormous smile on her face. But when she got a good look at me she froze in place just like Kakuzu had done.

"Oh my… Sakura you look absolutely fantastic!" She exclaimed and rushed forward to hug me. When she let go she shoved me down to sit on the bed as she started digging through her make-up case in search of the mascara.

When she finally was done with me I had on some mascara and eyeliner, making my eyes pop. I also had on dark red eye shadow accented by a pale white, glittery one. I had on only a tiny bit of blush and the dark red lipstick brought the whole thing together.

She then left to change clothes herself but promised that she would come back and get me as soon as we were ready to go. I sat down to wait and realized that Deidara had been right, I was starving again.

Konan soon came back and she had a small box with her which she gave me with the words.

"Open it! I think that you will want to put my gift on right away!"

I did as she said and the content of the box took my breath away. It was piercing jewelry, each of the items matching my new necklace. I quickly changed all of my piercings to my new ones, giving Konan a bright smile as every piece of jewelry on my body matched.

She smiled back before linking her arms through mine and leading me towards the garage where the boys were waiting for us.

When we entered the garage we were met by silence. I looked up shyly to see that all of the boys were staring at us. Konan had on a dark blue dress the same color as her hair which were cut in a way to show off her small baby bump and a pair of black, glittery ballerina flats.

I knew both of us looked stunning.

"Ready to go boys?" Konan asked them, pulling them back to reality. Pein and Sasori got their bearings first and walked towards a covered object next to Konans Camaro, gesturing for me to follow them.

I did and when they stopped in front of the covered object, I did as well.

"This is your gift from me and Pein." Sasori explained with a smile and pulled the cover off of the object. Underneath it was my dream car.

A Dodge Charger from 1970 with a massive HEMI engine under the hood. It was painted a beautiful black and the rims were exquisite. I loved it.

When I managed to take in that they had gotten me my absolute favorite car in the whole world, I wrapped them both in a bone-crushing hug and didn´t let go.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love it! I love it! I love it!" I was so happy I bounced up and down and my voice was almost painfully loud.

"Are you sure? We can still return it otherwise…" Pein joked but I only smacked him over the head, warning him.

"Don´t you dare touch my baby!" The others laughed behind us and I quickly jumped in my brand new car, asking them.

"Wasn´t there someplace we were going? I want to take my baby for a test drive." That elicited even more laughs from them but Hidan got in the passenger seat and Kisame and Itachi got in the back of my new baby.

"You guys go ahead to the restaurant, we´ll meet you there." Itachi told Pein before I started the engine and revved it a few times only to get to hear the sound of the powerful HEMI engine.

"If we survive. Do you even know how to work a gear stick kitten?" Kisame added and I smiled an evil little smile before putting the car in reverse and quickly backing out of the garage.

I then quickly put in the first gear and took off, making two black lines on the asphalt. The tires didn´t grip until third gear, finally ending the two black lines that now were behind us. The smell of burned rubber assaulted my senses and I sighed in pleasure as I set course on the highway, I wanted to know what this car could do.

I cast a glance in the rearview mirror and burst out laughing; both Kisame and Itachi were pale and had a death grip on their seat belts. Hidan turned and looked as well before adding his laugh to mine.

"I do believe she knows how to work a gear stick." He told the two in the back, barely being able to stop laughing.

I was thrilled to see that the highway was almost empty, casting a quick glance at Hidan before downshifting and floor the gas pedal. The beautiful creature of a car immediately responded and as I shifted gears again the feeling of a hand pressing us back in our seats made me giggle.

I loved this.

But I slowed down soon again, I didn´t want to get a speeding ticket today. I heard all of my passengers exhale in relief as I parked outside the restaurant where we were to meet the others.

My huge smile and Hidans, Kisames and Itachis pale faces made the others laugh before we made it inside. We were led to a private room; obviously someone had reserved this for us.

When everybody was seated I stood up and made an announcement.

"I have something I wish to tell all of you. A few weeks ago a got a new tattoo from Kakuzu. Deidara drew it up for me and it is only those two and Hidan who has seen it. Now I wish to show it to the rest of you guys and I hope that you will understand the meaning behind it."

With that said I took off my jacket and turned around, giving all of them a good view of my bare back. I heard sound of movement behind me and closed my eyes, if someone didn´t like the tattoo I didn´t want to see it.

Suddenly I was crushed in a hug that I recognized came from Tobi and then what felt like a million voices buzzed around me. Everybody telling me how much the tattoo meant for them and that it was a really stunning piece of art.

I smiled, happiness filling my entire being. They had liked it! Soon everyone settled down and went back to their seats and food was brought in. A lot of it. And it was all of my favorite dishes.

After everyone had eaten Itachi, Kisame, Tobi and Zetzu disappeared and I looked curiously after them. Hidan gripped my hand underneath the table and explained it to me in a whisper.

"I believe they are getting their gifts to you, they will be back soon."

"When do I get your gift then?" I asked him with a seductive smile. He chuckled lightly and told me.

"Patience Sakura, patience."

I didn´t have any time to complain to him because the others returned and approached me with their gifts. Kisame gave me a gift card that told me that I and a friend would spend an afternoon swimming with dolphins. Itachi gave me a few very rare and very expensive books that I had no idea how he had known I wanted.

Tobi got me another gift card, this one promising a full day at an amusement park with a friend. And Zetzu had gotten me a beautiful bonsai tree along with some movies I had mentioned that I wanted.

I loved every gift very much because they clearly had spent a lot of energy on finding something that I would really appreciate. The only one who´s gift was still a mystery was Hidan´s.

But before I could start pestering him about it, the cake was brought in. a stunning creation of chocolate, whipped cream and cherries.

When we left the restaurant it had been another few hours and it was now late afternoon. We went back to the house and gathered in the living room in front of a movie. It felt great to have Hidan on my right side, Kisame on my left side and Deidara sitting on the floor in between my legs. It was warm and comfortable, it felt safe.

When the movie ended Hidan gave me card that told me he was taking me to a luxurious hotel for the weekend and I actually squealed in happiness and locked my arms around his neck in a hug. But I couldn´t help but feel a slight sting of disappointment that he hadn´t gotten me a ring after all…

Our hug was interrupted by the doorbell ringing and I quickly skipped down the hallway to open the door before anyone else had a chance to move.

When I opened the door I still had a bright and cheery smile on, but it faded fast as I realized who I had opened the door for.

Sasuke Uchiha.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**AN: Please check out my new story, Sakura´s new life! =)**

**Chapter Twenty one**

I had opened the door to Sasuke Uchiha and now I was frozen in fear. How had he gotten here? What did he want? Were the main thoughts that circled inside my head while my body tried to get control back from my shocked mind.

"Happy birthday Sakura." He said and in a flash I was shoved up against the wall, his hand around my neck keeping me in place.

"I will get revenge on my team, you didn´t think I´d just forget about that do you?" His voice cracked with barely held back anger that scared me. He was clearly unstable at the moment.

"Let her go Sasuke." I heard Itachi say calmly from somewhere on my right and a little bit of relief filled me. Itachi had promised to protect me from his brother and I believed he would, and it reminded me that I was not alone.

I could see movements at the edges of my quickly darkening vision; it was probably the other guys surrounding us as a preparation to take Sasuke down. I tried to move my head a little to the side, hoping to catch a glance of Hidan or Kisame or anyone as well as getting in a little air in my forcibly tightened throat.

But Sasuke were having none of that.

"Don´t look away from me you BITCH!" He yelled and backhanded me. Hard.

My head snapped back from the sheer force of the blow and for a moment my vision turned all black. All I could hear was an annoying buzzing sound and I felt dizzy and slightly disorientated.

I felt my body shift and move, but not on its own accord. My vision finally cleared and as the buzzing sound disappeared I realized that I could breathe again and I quickly sucked down several deep breaths of much needed air.

I looked up to see the concerned face of Kisame look down at me in return. I frowned and looked around, my gaze soon locking onto Sasuke again.

He was held down on the floor by Hidan, Kakuzu and Pein. Itachi were on the phone, clearly talking to their cousin Madara about locking Sasuke up. Zetzu and Tobi were on either side of Konan, both of them holding an arm around her slightly trembling form.

I looked back up at Kisame and frowned as the numb feeling in my jaw gave away to stinging pain instead. He put me down but kept his arm around me in case my knees would give away. I was thankful for his supporting arm when the room spun before my eyes and I clutched his arm for support.

He gently sat us down on the floor; I sat in between his legs and rested my head against his chest. Then we waited.

After about twenty minutes a car pulled up in front of the house and Itachi opened the door and let two people in. the first man was the oldest one, he looked to be around 35 years old. He was slightly taller than Itachi but had the same slight yet muscled build, dark red eyes and black hair. His hair was really long and reminded me of a lion's mane. The other man looked to be only one or two years older than Itachi, he also had a slight yet muscled build, his eyes were charcoal black like Sasuke´s and his black hair was short and kind of wild.

"Madara, Shisui." Itachi greeted and Sasuke increased his efforts to escape from the other guys grip. Madara barely spared Sasuke a look, instead his gaze locked onto me and a frown appeared on his face.

"I take it that this is Sakura?" He asked and kneeled in front of me. Itachi nodded yes and he reached out his hand towards my face.

I flinched.

Madaras frown got deeper but he still gently touched the blooming bruise on my face. His eyes were trained on mine and I could see different emotions flashing in them.

Anger, guilt and regret.

I didn´t understand why those emotions were the most prominent but I didn´t question it. He stood back up and gestured for Shisui to put Sasuke in cuffs.

"I´ll take him with me now but I will need to come back and talk to Sakura tomorrow night." He said and looked at me as if asking for permission. I nodded and then he and Shisui dragged Sasuke out of here. Hopefully that was the last time I saw him.

As the door closed behind them I was surrounded by Hidan, Kakuzu and Itachi. All of them asking me things that I couldn´t concentrate on enough to answer. The darkness that the whole time had teetered on the edge of my vision was now taking over and I quickly sank down in black, comforting unconsciousness.

I apparently slept through the night since it was light outside when I finally woke up. I was alone in bed abut after a look at the bedside clock I realized that it was close to noon.

I quickly got out of bed and when I was confident that I wouldn´t faint I took a quick shower before running a brush through my hair and pulling on some clothes. Then I went to search for food.

When I arrived in the kitchen, only Itachi was there and I saw his eyes widen as he took in my appearance. I was wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a white tank top, a dark blue, oversized sweatshirt and a huge black and blue bruise covered almost half of my face.

I heated some leftovers in the microwave and poured myself a glass of water before sitting down at the table, facing Itachi. He didn´t say anything but I could feel his gaze on me.

"What is it Itachi?" I asked him after having enough of his stare.

"How are you feeling?" He finally asked me and I immediately knew why he was so weird. He felt guilty for Sasukes actions. I sighed and lightly pinched the bridge of my nose; I could feel a headache coming on.

"I´m fine Itachi… Don´t worry." I told him as I put my plate in the dishwasher. When I passed him on the way out of the kitchen I leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"You´re not responsible for what Sasuke did so stop feeling guilty."

Then I left him at the kitchen table and instead went to Peins office. I knocked lightly on the door before opening it, revealing Pein, Kakuzu and Hidan inside.

"Hey guys, something happening?" I asked and all of them turned their eyes towards me before Pein sighed and answered.

"Yeah there´s movement down in the harbor again, I take it you wish to join them?"

"Can I?"

"No." I pouted at Pein´s short answer, I didn´t see any reason to why I couldn´t go with them.

"Why can´t I go?" I whined in hopes that he would change his mind.

"Because you need to be here when Madara and Shisui returns."

"But Madara said he needed to talk to me tonight! It´s barely afternoon, I have plenty of hours before they arrive."

Pein sighed and slumped in his chair, he knew I was right and he didn´t like it.

"Fine you can go with them, but make sure to be back in time." I nodded eagerly and promised him to be back in a few hours. Hopefully the disturbance in the harbor would be some kids not knowing better, that happened from time to time.

I wanted to take my car but in the end I let Kakuzu convince me to let him drive, I absolutely didn´t want anything to happen to my baby.

Down at the harbor everything seemed normal at first, but since I was there, we sure found trouble. There was a few Sound members causing the trouble but neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto were there.

The fight was nothing we hadn´t countered before but once again I was thrown into the ocean, other than that all of us were fine.

As soon as we got home I went straight to the shower, I needed to warm up and I still had time before the other Uchiha´s would arrive. Hidan soon joined me in the shower and when we got out of it an hour later I was both warm and satisfied.

I was on my way over to the kitchen when Konan found me and asked me to come with her for a minute. I did so and soon found myself in what would become the nursery. The walls were still white since they had not been painted yet and the only furniture was two chairs.

Konan sat down in one and I told her to put her feet on the other as I sat on the floor. I could see that Konan was nervous but I didn´t say anything, I just waited for her to tell me what she had wanted to talk about.

"I know that you might not like what I´m about to say right now but anyway… I… I want you to be the godmother of my children."

I stared at her with my mouth open for almost a full minute before finding my voice again.

"Are… Are you sure? What do Pein think about this?" I asked her, not truly believing she was serious.

"Of course I´m sure! And Pein agrees. My only worry is that you will not accept it because it might remind you of that you can´t have kids of your own…" She trailed off.

"I´d love to be the godmother of your children." I told her, a huge smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart.

We talked about the nursery for a while after that, seeing as Pein had told Konan to decorate it as she wanted, she asked me for help and advice about it.

We decided that the walls would be painted a neutral green and that we would ask Deidara to paint some jungle animals on them. We also decided to get fiber optics for the ceiling, making it look like a star filled night sky with the help of some dark blue organza fabric.

We were interrupted by a knock on the closed door and Pein entered with Madara and Shisui in tow. He tried to give me a stern look but I only laughed and told him.

"Hey I´m in the house, you didn´t say anything other than that I had to be back here in time." He smiled and helped me up from the floor.

"Yeah I know."

As he turned towards Konan I gestured to the Uchiha´s to come with me. I led them to mine and Hidans movie room and plopped myself down in the sofa, Madara and Shisui joining me.

I turned towards Madara and asked him.

"Well, what did you want to know?"

"What exactly happened?" He asked me, his voice rather dark and a little raspy but still very nice to listen to. Too bad I didn´t know how to answer his question.

"From what point?" I asked him while frowning in slight confusion. Madara and Shisui shared a look before Shisui asked me.

"Please start from the very beginning."

So I did.

I started to tell them everything that happened to me after Sasori left me with our parents. Then I told them how I had gotten here and everything happening while I was here and with me joining Akatsuki. Then I told them about my time in Sound captivity and the struggles I had after that. At the very last I told them about everything Sasuke had done to me in detail.

I could tell by their facial expressions that they wanted me to stop talking a few times but despite that I continued. I hadn´t wanted to revisit some of the memories that I had told them about but they had asked and I felt obliged to answer them.

I didn´t even notice that tears fell from my eyes the entire time.

When I finally was done talking, silence filled the room. Madara and Shisui had clearly not expected to hear what I had told them. But it was the truth and they knew it, they could see it in my eyes.

The one to break the silence was not Madara as I would have expected, instead it was Shisui who put his hand on my knee in a comforting manner before telling me.

"I´m so sorry."

He didn´t say anything else but he didn´t need to. I felt that he really meant it through the innocent touch and it made all the dark thoughts give away to the thoughts that maybe these two guys would be two new friends.

Madara didn´t say anything at all but as he put his hand on my other knee, I got the same feeling from him.

I smiled at them both before suggesting that they stay for dinner which Shisui accepted. Madara told me that he had other business to attend to but that he didn´t mind joining us another time.

I followed him to the door, telling him that he was welcome any time. He gave me a small smile and a quick friendly hug before leaving.

When Shisui and I entered the kitchen, the rest of the gang was already there except for Zetzu and Tobi who had once again left town. I informed them that he would join us for dinner and then another plate was set before I could blink.

Shisui sat down next to his cousin Itachi while I sat down next to Hidan. Hidan leaned towards me and whispered in my ear.

"Are you okay Cherry? I can tell that you have been crying."

I smiled at how cute he was, worrying about me.

"I´m fine Hidan, I had to tell Madara and Shisui about everything but it´s okay, I think I can add two new friends on my list now." I whispered back with a smile.

Hidan only nodded in response before he relaxed his tense posture and leaned back in his chair, a secretive smile entering his lips. Kisame who sat on the other side of me suddenly asked Shisui a question.

"Hey Shisui are you staying the night? We were thinking of continuing to celebrate Kitten tonight since last night was kind of ruined."

"Sure I´ll stay. If it´s okay with the rest of you?" He only got positive responses so it was decided that he would sleep on the couch in mine and Hidans movie room.

Then we all gathered in the living room were Deidara put on some music before Kisame entered with a few bottles of sake.

"Since you´re eighteen now Kitten you´re allowed to drink and I thought it would be a great way to make up for the miserable ending of yesterday." Nobody disagreed with him and soon everybody except Konan held a shot in their hand.

Kisame smiled at me and said.

"To Sakura!"

"To Sakura!" The rest of them echoed and then all of the shots were gone. The liquor burned my throat on the way down but left a heat that was not at all uncomfortable.

Kisame only smiled as he refilled our glasses.

A few hours later the house was all chaos. Konan was the only one sober but Itachi, Kakuzu and Pein only had two or three shots each. Kisame, Shisui, Hidan, Sasori, Deidara and I were all drunk out of our minds.

The kitchen was a mess after Deidara and I made a bomb in the microwave, the pool was filled with red food coloring after we played 'jaws' in it with Kisame as shark (the red food coloring was supposed to be blood) and know we was about to start a game of truth or dare.

Pein and Konan had already gone to bed and just as we were about to start the game, Itachi and Kakuzu abandoned us as well.

Kisame, Hidan, Shisui, Sasori, Deidara and I sat down on the floor in the living room and since Shisui was the guest, we let him start the game.

"Deia… Dedi… Blondie truth or dare?" He finally got out, his speech rather slurred from the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

"Dare me."

"I dare you to… to… … I forgot…" All the guys laughed at him but I smiled evilly before whispering something in his ear that made his eyes widen and a matching evil smile appear on his lips.

"I dare you to dress as a girl for the rest of the night!"

Everybody got really quiet before exploding in even louder laughter than before. Deidara only paled before getting up from the floor and stalking out of the room while dragging me with him. Lucky for us I snatched another bottle of sake before anyone realized what happened.

Deidara and I locked ourselves in mine and Hidans bedroom for his makeover and he sat down on the bed, pouting.

"Aww... Don´t worry Deidei… I´m going to make you a really pretty lady!" I told him happily before taking a few large gulps of the sake I had brought with me.

"Lookie here! I even got you some more sake." I said to him before giving him the bottle.

"Hell yeah! Now maybe this won´t be so bad…" He answered before emptying the bottle in one go.

I giggled before searching in my closet for the perfect outfit for him. I found the perfect dress for him and squealed loud enough to get his attention.

I tossed the dress on the bed and then tried to pull off his shirt but tripped and instead ending up sprawled over his lap. Both of us burst out laughing and then Deidara said.

"Thank Kami I´m gay or else Hidan would castrate me…"

This of course only made us laugh even harder.

After a few other mishaps I had finally managed to get him out of his clothes and into my dress. The dress was awkwardly tight across his chest and down to his hips, effectively allowing his taut muscles to show as if he wore no top at all. Thank Kami the dress flowed out at the hips before ending about mid-thigh, the dress reached to the knees on me but Deidara was a bit taller.

The thing that made the dress perfect for him was that it had the exact same color as his eyes. It had a tube top with sequins on and the skirt part was puffy and glittery. To finish the outfit I forced him in a pair of fishnet leggings and a pair of high heeled boots. I also gave him a blue and glittery themed make-up.

When he walked back out in the living room he had to lean on me since he was almost passed out from the alcohol but the guys didn´t care as they took a lot of photos in hopes of a few good ones to be used as blackmail.

But when he almost fell while only standing still, Sasori took pity on him and led him away to their bedroom. I strongly suspected that we would not see either of them again tonight.

We opened another sake bottle and since Hidan was the most sober one, he got the honor of continuing the game.

"Kisame, truth or dare?"

"Dare me."

"I dare you to make out with Shisui for 30 seconds."

Complete silence followed and by the looks on Kisame and Shisui´s faces, I´d say that neither of them wanted to do that dare. I smiled mischievously as I got an idea to make them to it and I leaned closer to Hidan to ask for his permission. He granted it, clearly thinking it was worth it if he got to see two absolutely straight guys make out.

"If you complete the dare I´ll give each of you a kiss in reward." I exclaimed making Shisui´s expression change from a disgusted one to a determined one.

"Fine…" Kisame muttered before latching onto Shisui´s mouth. I watched intently, not knowing if I should be fascinated or disgusted. From the corner of my eye I noticed that Hidan was recording the whole thing with his phone and I giggled evilly.

As soon as their 30 seconds were over they flew apart and sat as far away from each other as possible. Both of them looked at me expectantly and I sashayed over to Kisame first, giving him 30 seconds of full make out before giving Shisui equal attention.

When I sat down next to Hidan again neither Kisame nor Shisui had moved an inch, if it was out of shock or fear of Hidan I did not know nor did I care. But when Hidan laughed, they came back to reality and Kisame immediately asked me.

"Kitten, truth or dare?" I thought about it for a moment before locking gazes with him and confidently saying.

"Dare."

"I dare you to give the three of us a strip show. Which Hidan can interrupt whenever he thinks it is enough." He quickly added when Hidan glared at him. I looked at Hidan and he gave me a look that said 'your decision, it´s your body'.

I smirked and changed the music to something more fitting before dimming the lights slightly and went to stand in front of the three remaining guys.

I started moving my hips with the music while slowly dragging my hands up my body, tangling them in my hair before turning around and slowly pull off my shirt. I tossed the shirt in Shisui´s face, making him blush before I turned around again so that the guys got a good look of my upper body now clad in only a hot pink lace bra.

I let my hands fall from my hair to caress my neck before gently squeezing my breasts and drag down my stomach to the buckle on my belt. I unclasped it and then shimmied out of the tight fitting jeans with sensual movements. The jeans I tossed at Kisame before I turned around and reached down and backwards, putting my body in the same position that had made Kisame faint when he found me like that in the gym.

"I believe that´s enough." Hidan suddenly said before pulling his own shirt over my head to cover me up again.

"Ye... yeah…" Kisame agreed before disappearing from the room with his course clearly set on his bedroom. Shisui only shrugged and winked at me before telling me.

"Good show."

He then also left and I heard the door to mine and Hidans movie room close not long after that. I turned towards Hidan and stretched out my arms toward him.

"Carry me to bed?" I asked in my best childlike voice and he did so without complaining.

This ending was much better than yesterdays.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Twenty-two**

_I was standing in front of the front door, looking at a painting that confused me greatly. It was all black, with only a few red dots that almost looked like eyes…_

_Suddenly the front door was kicked in and a man hidden in darkness stepped in, the only thing visible was the dark purple, pulsating evil aura he emitted._

_It was Sasuke._

_"Do you like the painting I made you? This way I can watch you all the time, no matter where I am."_

_Shills ran down my spine as I returned my gaze to the painting. The red dots __**were**__ eyes, and they now followed my every movement._

_I tried to run away but before I had gotten no more than two steps away, I was grabbed around the throat. I felt my feet leave the floor and my air supply was cut off. My vision was darkening as I was turned around so that Sasuke could look into my eyes._

_"You can never hide from me Sakura."_

_Then everything went black._

I woke up screaming and immediately tried to get away from the person holding me down.

"Sakura! Sakura calm down!" I recognized the voice as Hidans but just as the time I was panicking and accidently hit Konan, it held no meaning to me. I fought his hold on me with everything I had, kicking and screaming.

"What´s happening?!" someone asked and I assumed that it was Shisui since he was closest to us.

"She had a nightmare and is panicking, she doesn´t recognize me right now so I need you to help me hold her down!" Hidan commanded him and I felt him tentatively holding down my legs.

Since Hidan now could concentrate on keeping my arms from doing damage he soon got through the nightmare induced panic and managed to calm me down.

But then the tears started and I hid against Hidans bare chest to get away from Shisui´s concerned gaze. I felt ashamed.

"Sweetheart don´t be ashamed, it´s not your fault you get nightmares… Shisui won´t think any less of you I promise." Hidan tried to comfort me and I tentatively shot a look at Shisui to see if he was right or not.

He was right. In Shisui´s eyes I could only read worry, sadness and guilt.

"Hidan´s right Sakura, I would never judge you. It is after all much my little cousin's fault that you have these problems…" He said before turning away from me, clearly intent on going back to the other room.

He to felt guilty for what Sasuke had done, even more so now when he had seen the reactions of it. He was just like Itachi.

"Don´t feel guilty… please?" I begged him with eyes still wet with tears and a hand reaching out for him. His eyes softened and he grasped my outstretched hand, holding it tightly.

"I´ll try." He answered before leaving us. I looked up at Hidan with a trembling lower lip and he hugged me harder against him, telling me.

"It´ll be alright Sakura… It´ll be alright."

The next morning was filled with different embarrassments and hangovers but was still very calm and quiet. It was noon before everyone was up from bed but who cares.

We were all gathered for a late lunch when Itachi asked Shisui.

"Is Madara going to pick you up or do you need a ride?"

"I wouldn´t turn down a ride but Madara can pick me up if you´re busy."

I looked in confusion from Itachi to Shisui, didn´t he have a license? He was certainly old enough to.

"Don´t you have a license?" I had to ask him.

"Yeah I do but my car´s not here, it´s at the apartment." He answered without looking at me. I suddenly felt really sad, he hadn´t looked at me all day, probably because of what happened last night.

I quickly got up and left the kitchen, both Hidan and Itachi´s worried gazes following me. Hidan knew what was wrong and I had a feeling that he had told Itachi. I didn´t care whichever since Shisui clearly had decided that being my friend came with too much trouble…

And I had really liked him too…

I ran up the stairs until I got to the attic but I didn´t stop there, instead I made my way out on the roof. I found my hidden place, a spot where I could not be seen if you didn´t know where to look. I couldn´t be seen from the street and I couldn´t be seen from any of the windows.

I sat down and finally let the tears out. I hated myself for crying over this, it made me seem even weaker than I actually was. I wanted to feel strong for once…

After about an hour I started hearing people calling my name from inside the house, apparently they had grown worried about me. I wondered if Shisui helped them look for me or if he had already left… but I hadn´t seen any cars in the driveway so the chances were good that he was still here.

I had slowly crept closer to the edge of the roof as I heard voices from the outside; it was a rather peculiar feeling to sit on the very edge of the roof of a three story building. Last time I had been high on painkillers but this gave a rather awesome rush as well.

I let my legs dangle over the edge while leaning dangerously far out in an attempt to see who it was. I could barely hear what they were saying.

"Does she disappear like this often?" It was Shisui who asked and I frowned, I didn´t understand him in the slightest.

"Nowadays she only does that when she´s got a lot on her mind or when something is confusing her, when she first got here she would disappear every other day for several hours." Answered Hidan outwardly calm but I could hear the anxiousness in his voice.

"This time however I believe that the reason for her disappearing is you Shisui…" Itachi added.

"She disappeared because of me? Why?" Shisui sounded both surprised and a little remorseful.

"Because you ignored her." Hidan answered softly.

"But I only did that so that she wouldn´t feel uncomfortable about last night! I didn´t mean for her to feel bad about it…"

About now Itachi suddenly raised his eyes and made eye contact with me, his eyes widened in alarm but I gestured to him to be quiet. He frowned but slowly nodded and turned his attention back to the other two.

"Then I suggest that you tell her that." Hidan said.

"I will, as soon as we find her." Promised Shisui.

"She's right over there." Itachi told them and gestured towards me.

Both Hidan and Shisui looked up at me and I waved half-heartedly at them, making Hidan smirk and Shisui pale. I suddenly felt that evil streak inside me come alive and I scanned the side of the building, looking for an 'alternative' way down. It looked like I would be able to pull this off.

I smiled down at the boys, making Hidan tense as he realized what I was about to do. Then I dropped from the roof. As I felt the air rush past me I felt an incredible feeling of freedom as well as I heard panicked shouts from below.

But I had looked closely and knew that there was a ledge I would be able to stop my fall with. I reached the edge and managed to grip it hard enough to stop my fall, then I simply let go and fell the last couple of feet with ease.

I turned around to see Shisui pale as a ghost and Hidan and Itachi glaring at me.

"What? It went fine." I said loudly, drawing Shisui out of his stupor. He blinked a few times before asking for forgiveness for his earlier behavior which I easily granted; I had after all heard his reason to why he had acted strange.

Suddenly another (according to me) bright idea popped up in my mind.

"Hey Shisui do you still need a ride? I could take my baby out for a spin." I told him with a smile and I thought I saw Itachi pale a little.

"Sure what car do you drive?"

I grinned even bigger and answered.

"A black dodge charger -70 with a HEMI engine."

His eyes started to glitter and I figured he liked that kind of car as well.

After another twenty minutes we were all set to go and Shisui, Itachi and I met up in the garage. It was decided that me and Itachi would spend the day and night with Shisui and Madara in their apartment since everybody else were going away anyway.

Pein and Konan were going shopping for furniture to the nursery and had decided to travel to another town and spend the night there to get some alone-time. Sasori and Deidara were going on a mission also in another town that they calculated would take about a week to finish. Kakuzu, Hidan and Kisame were doing a small overnight mission in the neighboring town so only Itachi and I would be in the house anyway.

I put mine and Itachi´s bags in the trunk of the car and then we all piled in with me behind the wheel, Shisui in the passenger seat and Itachi in the backseat. Itachi immediately put on his seatbelt, making both me and Shisui laugh.

"Are you scared Itachi?" Shisui asked him mockingly.

"You wasn´t in the car last time she drove it." Itachi said blankly.

Shisui shot a suddenly nervous look at my grinning face and asked him.

"Does she drive badly?"

"No, but wildly…" Itachi muttered just as I started the car and backed out of the garage in about the same manner as last time. I would never tire of that was my only thought when I finally let up on the gas pedal and Shisui was as pale as a ghost.

I giggled at his funny expression but then the rear windshield suddenly shattered and a bullet made its way through the car before exiting out the front windshield and I was immediately dead serious.

"Who´s the shooter?!" I yelled towards Itachi as I swerved the car in hopes of avoiding another bullet. I heard another bullet hit the door on the driver´s side and a burning pain appeared on my thigh before another bullet lodged itself in the dash.

I ignored the pain for now and instead focused on my driving and what Itachi and Shisui yelled.

"I think its Kabuto who´s driving but I don´t recognize the guy who´s shooting!" Itachi yelled as I took a turn with all four wheels spinning, not getting a grip on the slick asphalt.

"We need to lose them and fast!" Shisui yelled, strangely calm despite the dangerous situation. It made me wonder why he wasn´t a part of Akatsuki.

As I took the next turn on only two wheels the window next to me shattered as well as the front windshield and another burning pain erupted on my body, this time in my left shoulder.

I swore loudly and then I felt Itachi press his hands on my injured shoulder, one hand over the entry wound and one hand over the exit wound.

"It went straight through, nothing serious when we can stop the bleeding." He told me and I nodded before giving a frustrated sigh.

"You need to let go Itachi I can´t drive like this."

"But if he lets go the bleeding will get worse, you might faint." Shisui told me shakily. After a quick look at his pale face I realized that he maybe wasn´t so used to this kind of situation as I had thought. Both Itachi and I were after all calm; Shisui I was starting to worry would panic.

"I won´t faint." I told them both and Itachi reluctantly let go of my shoulder. I knew I was telling the truth, I wouldn´t allow myself to faint while I was driving.

I turned a hard right and we entered the highway. If we got on the highway, my HEMI engine would be able to make us lose the tail. Kabuto drove after all a plain pick-up truck; my car was built for speed and his wasn´t.

I floored it.

The speed meter climbed higher and higher and while we lost Kabuto, it also got harder and harder to steer. When we hadn´t seen them for ten minutes I exited the highway and followed Shisui´s directions to their apartment.

I started feeling dizzy and told Itachi.

"I think you need to put your hands back on my shoulder." He immediately did so but frowned and spoke out loud.

"Are you feeling dizzy already?" I nodded.

"Yeah but that might be because of the bullet graze on my thigh…" My statement caused silence at first but Itachi soon spoke again.

"A bullet graze on your thigh? How bad?"

"Don´t know, I can´t take my eyes off the road."

"Shisui can you see?" Itachi asked. Shisui leaned closer to me and then swore loudly.

"Yeah it´s bleeding pretty badly," He said and then leaned over me so that he was able to put pressure on it, making me grit my teeth in pain. Luckily we were soon at the apartment. I listened to Itachi telling Shisui call Madara and have him meet us in the garage.

"Madara you need to meet us in the garage!" I could hear the streak of panic in his voice and almost smiled.

"Some guy named Kabuto and another one started shooting at us on the drive over, Sakura´s been shot."

"Yeah we´re pulling in now." He said and pointed to an underground garage on my left.

I parked what was left of my baby before turning off the engine and slumping in the seat. I heard Shisui and Itachi get out of the car and then the door next to me opened and I was lifted out of the car.

I opened one eye to see Madara look down at me with worry in his gaze, he was carrying me bridal style and I could hear the faint sounds of my blood dripping on the concrete floor. We got into an elevator and soon we were in their apartment.

They put me down at a hard cold surface and I could see Itachi´s face hovering over me.

"We´re going to undress you and tend to your wounds, okay?" I nodded and then closed my eyes to make the dizziness stop.

I must´ve fallen unconscious because when I opened my eyes again I was in a bed and it was not my own. I looked around and saw that I was in a medium sized room with light blue walls and dark furniture. The giant bed had black silk sheets and felt like heaven to my aching body.

I looked underneath the sheets and saw that somebody had dressed me in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that were too big on me, but I had to admit that they were rather comfortable.

My thigh was dressed in gauze and wrapped tightly as well as my shoulder. I carefully got out of bed and figured that I would be able to move around if I did so carefully. I set course towards the door but stopped when I realized what had happened to my baby.

They had hurt my baby…

Tears started falling from my eyes, partly because of the stress my body had gone through and partly because my baby was hurt. That´s how the three Uchiha males found me a few minutes later when they all entered the room. They all surrounded me, asking worried questions, trying to find out why I was crying.

Was I in pain? Was I scared?

I wanted to frown at their (to me) stupid questions. Yes I was both in pain and scared but that wasn´t why I was crying. They had HURT my baby…

Finally I had enough and I turned towards Itachi.

"They hurt my baby…" I whispered, hoping that he would understand. He did and actually smiled at me while wrapping his arms carefully around me.

"We can fix her, I promise." He told me to the others confusion, but it was all that I needed to be able to stop crying.

"Who is her?" Asked Shisui confused. Itachi only smiled as he led me out to the couch in the living room.

"The car."

I sat down in the soft, comfy couch and Shisui and Madara sat down on either side of me as Itachi disappeared to what I assumed was the kitchen. I could feel both of their worried gazes on me and told them.

"I´m fine guys, promise. These kinds of things tend to happen to me a lot…"

"But how can you stay so calm? You were shot and still you acted as if it was nothing?" exclaimed Shisui.

"Like I said, these kinds of things tend to happen a lot. Besides, I´ve been through worse."

They looked at each other once again, their shared look telling me that they were afraid to ask what I had been through that had been worse. Luckily Itachi returned before the silence got uncomfortable, he was carrying a tray filled with food which he sat down in front of me.

"Here, you need to eat to replenish the blood you lost." He said before sitting down in an easy chair. I started eating as Itachi answered Shisui´s and Madaras different questions about how we were able to stay so calm and what we exactly did as the Akatsuki.

When I had finished the food, Itachi kneeled in front of me, a tense look on his face. I felt apprehensive about his look, like he was about to tell me something I wouldn´t like.

"Sakura, I need to meet up with Hidan, Kakuzu and Kisame. We need to find out who the shooter was and I am of more use with them." He told me, his voice gentle as if he knew he was going to hurt me.

"You´re just going to leave me here? I´ll come with you!" I told him while attempting to get up from the couch. But he only placed a hand on my good shoulder and told me.

"Yes I am leaving you here; no you are not coming with me. You are hurt Sakura, you´ll be safe here and I will be back soon." I turned my head away and whispered so that only he would hear.

"What if I get a nightmare or a panic attack?"

"I´ve talked to both Madara and Shisui about that, they know what to do. Besides, Madara is a licensed psychologist he might even do a better job than we do." Itachi said softly while placing a comforting hand on top of my head.

I felt tears gather at the corners of my eyes and I whined.

"I want Hidan…"

He pulled me in for a hug and sighed in my hair before answering me.

"Yeah I know… you´ll see him soon I promise. Hopefully all of this mess will be over soon." And then he was gone. I felt a hand land comfortingly on my knee and looked up to see Shisui look intensely at me. I gave him a watery smile and asked him.

"Can we watch a movie, please?"

He only nodded and I gave him a small smile in return, he was so sweet to me. I felt I slight nudge on my good shoulder and looked to my right only to come face to face with Madara.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked me, his voice gentle and sincere. I nodded and lied down so that my head was resting on his lap.

"Yeah I´ll be okay…"

Shisui returned to the couch and I lifted my legs so that he could fit. When he sat down I stretched out my legs and rested them across his lap as well. When the movie started Shisui was massaging my feet and Madara was petting my hair. Their gentle, soothing strokes had soon lulled me to sleep.

But had I known that I would dream, I would not have allowed myself to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter Twenty-three**

_I woke up alone on the couch a few hours later, it was dark outside but every light in the apartment was on._

_A loud banging on the front door drew my attention and I slowly made my way towards it. Lightening flashed and then the sound of rolling thunder echoed throughout the place._

_I didn´t see either Shisui or Madara._

_I looked through the peephole but didn´t see anyone, I was just about to return to the couch when the knocking started again. I opened the door to see a shadowy figure standing there, a gun pointed straight to my head._

_"What… What do you… Want?" I asked him shakily and he only shook his head in a disappointed manner before firing the gun._

_Everything went black._

I woke up with a start, a scream lodged in my throat. The movie was still running so I knew I hadn´t been asleep for long at least. I scrambled to a sitting position and then wrapped my arms tight around my legs, making me as small as possible.

Both my gunshot wounds hurt like hell in this position but I didn´t care about that, all I cared about was not giving in to the rising anxiety attack.

I felt strong arms wrap around me and it actually made me relax slightly, I felt like I was being held together, it was comforting. I heard Madaras dark voice reverberate close to me and then Shisui disappeared.

I started shaking because of the effort of holding back the panic and the arms around me tightened. Then Madaras voice once again resonated close to my ear.

"Breathe Sakura, it´s just you and me here. No one is going to hurt you while I´m here."

I eventually calmed down, but when I did embarrassment took over and I wanted nothing more than to hide. I tried to break free from Madaras hold and actually whimpered when he didn´t let me go, and I didn´t whimper because of the pain. Pain I could handle, the desperate feeling of wanting to hide I could not.

At hearing my whimper he released me and turned me around so that he could look at me.

"What´s wrong Sakura? Did I hurt you?" He sounded really worried but I only turned my head away and kept my gaze on the floor. I was causing him so much trouble yet I didn´t even had the guts to look at him, I was ashamed of myself.

I guess he must´ve realized what was bothering me since he gently forced me to meet his gaze and told me.

"Do never be ashamed in front of me Sakura, no matter what. I think you are an astonishing young woman who has overcome enormous troubles that would have broken everyone else."

I was surprised at his exclamation; I had no idea that he thought that. Perhaps he didn´t see me as trouble? Perhaps I had no reason to feel ashamed?

"You don´t see me as trouble?" I asked him nervously.

"Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Because I cause a lot of trouble… If I hadn´t left my parents you would never have met me and Sasuke wouldn´t be locked in jail, you wouldn´t have had your apartment invaded or your time stolen. It is all because of me." I answered him quietly.

"Well that's just a lot of bullshit to my ears. You don´t cause trouble, you encounter trouble. If you hadn´t left your parents you would most likely be dead and what would have happened to Sasori then? Sasuke might still have gone to jail and I like it very much when you 'invade my apartment and steal my time'."

I just blinked at him, to stunned to manage to form any kind of sentence. Instead I simply nodded and let Madara hug me. We pulled apart when the front door opened and closed and a scent of Chinese food spread through the air.

I got up from the couch and walked out to the kitchen to Shisui. I greeted him with a big smile as I saw that he indeed had brought Chinese food. He gave me a hug and I could feel the relief in his body that I was no longer panicking.

But a sticky sensation on my shoulder made me let go of him quickly and I pulled out the shirt I was wearing from my body so that I could take a peek.

"Oops…"

"Why? What is it?" Shisui asked me and I pulled off the shirt to show him that I had bled through my bandages. But as soon as I pulled off the shirt he turned a bright red and then promptly fainted.

"Oops…" I said again before I yelled.

"Madara! We have a problem here." He was standing next to me in a matter of only seconds and I showed him my shoulder before pointing towards Shisui and saying.

"I was only going to show him that I needed new bandages when he fainted on me."

Madara actually managed to look serious for a moment before bursting out laughing; I took one more look at Shisui and joined him. Shisui looked adorable when passed out and blushing.

Madara then quickly helped me to change the bandages before we woke Shisui up and enjoyed our now reheated Chinese food dinner. Immediately after dinner Shisui and I started yawning and Madara shooed Shisui off to bed before leading me back to the bedroom I had woken up in.

"You can have my bed Sakura, I´ll sleep on the couch." Madara told me and attempted to walk away. I grabbed his arm, stopping him from leaving me and told him.

"Please stay! We can share the bed; it is more than big enough. And I… I can´t sleep when I´m alone…" I felt like I was begging him to stay, he might not even want to share the bed with me. But I was soon freed from my worries as he answered.

"Sure, I´ll stay if you want me to." I only nodded and went into the bathroom to change into my pajamas. I exited the bathroom dressed once again in Hidan´s shirt and Itachi´s boxers; I felt that I needed the security their clothes offered me.

Madara was already in bed but he raised one eyebrow at my outfit, silently asking where I had gotten it from.

"The shirt is Hidan´s and the boxers belong to Itachi." I answered and he actually giggled before pulling the covers over us and lying back down on the pillows.

It didn´t take long before the two of us were asleep.

I stayed with Madara and Shisui for two whole day´s and night´s before hearing something from Itachi or Hidan. But I didn´t complain, I got to know the two Uchiha's really well during that short amount of time.

But when Itachi finally called me, I immediately heard that something was really wrong. First, why did he call me and not Hidan? Second, why did he sound stressed? And third, why was Shisui and Madara paling while looking behind me?

I dropped my phone and spun to the side in the same moment a katana sliced the air where I had been standing only a second ago. I looked up and came face to face with an enraged Kabuto.

"It is your entire fault you fucking BITCH!" He yelled while at the same time attacking me with the katana. I expertly dodged him and he continued.

"If you would have just died Orochimaru wouldn´t have felt the need to replace me, ME, with a simple assassin!"

As I continued to dodge his attacks I concluded that he must have gone completely mad to come after me like this and not caring about the other two people in the room. I saw both Shisui and Madara get behind Kabuto and slowly moving closer to take him down.

But he suddenly noticed them and just as he was about to spin around and throw poisoned needles at them, I moved forward, placing myself in between them. The needles easily pierced my skin but I ignored it in favor of punching Kabuto in the face with as much force as I could muster.

I heard a crunching sound and actually felt the shattered pieces of his nose disappear up in his brain, killing him instantly.

As he fell to the ground I turned around and faced the Uchiha´s who both looked rather pale. Shisui then reached for one of the poisoned needles in my body but I quickly took a step back and more or less yelled.

"No! Don´t touch the needles! They´re poisoned and will kill you."

"But won´t they kill you as well?" Shisui asked in an almost whisper.

"No they won´t kill me. They developed this poison on me, using me as a test dummy." I told him as I slowly plucked the needles from my body, dropping them in a bowl on the kitchen counter.

The Uchiha boys were stunned silent as I calmly freed myself from the poisoned needles. Just as I finished Itachi came through the door with Hidan only seconds after. Before I had a chance at comprehend what was happening I was engulfed in a tight hug from Hidan.

"Would someone be so kind and tell us what´s going on here?" Madara demanded and as we moved to sit in the living room, Itachi started to explain.

Apparently he and Hidan had found out that Kabuto knew where I was and was going to get me here and had tried to warn me when he tried to slice me in half with a katana. They had also found out that Orochimaru had hired an assassin named Kimimaro to kill me since I had gotten his precious Sasuke-kun locked away.

And the reason it was Itachi who called me and not Hidan was because Hidan was driving way over the speed limit in hopes of getting here before Kabuto.

When all the questions had been answered and the mess in the hallway was cleaned up, we offered Madara and Shisui to come and stay with us in the house for a while. They declined, telling us that they had things to do but that they would drop by during the weekend instead.

So Hidan, Itachi and I went home alone. During the car ride home I pondered on what to do with my situation, Orochimaru was still alive and causing trouble and now I had this assassin Kimimaro to deal with as well.

I suddenly got an idea on how to end this mess, but my heart hurt at the thought of it. But I felt that I had no other choice…

Late that night, when Hidan was sleeping the heaviest I snuck out of bed and through the house without waking either him or anyone else. In the garage I went directly to Konans car, in which I had hidden a small backpack of supplies.

I felt bad about leaving them without an explanation but I told myself that it was to keep them safe while I ended this nightmare. I had left them a note, telling them that I would be back. I left on foot, taking a car would be too much of a risk. I let the tears fall as I slowly walked away from my happiness, my love and my family.

I hid in alleyways and in run down motels to avoid being found by neither Orochimaru and Kimimaro nor my own family. I was making my way back towards the hideout were they had kept me in hopes of finding something to lead me to Orochimaru.

It took me almost a full week before I finally was back in the hell I had sworn never to return to. I told myself that this was different and then entered through the heavy doors.

I crept through the abandoned hallways in search for something to point me in the direction of Orochimaru. Mark my surprise when I turned a corner and bumped into Kimimaro.

I looked up at him and took notice of his odd white hair, green eyes and red face markings before I realized who I was looking at.

"Aw shit!" I swore and tried to run away. But Kimimaro had a good grip on me and he didn´t let go.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded to know and I stopped struggling, wasn´t he going to kill me?

"I´m… I´m looking for something that could lead me to Orochimaru… Aren´t you supposed to kill me?" I asked him, my head spinning with confusion.

"Yes I was hired to kill you, but I´ve decided not to." He answered me calmly, his dark voice making shills run up and down my spine.

"Why?" I knew my curiosity could get me killed but I hoped that It would not.

"Orochimaru is a sickness that the world needs to get rid of, I´m merely helping with that." I didn´t quite understand his answer but I decided not to question him more.

"Since our goal is the same, maybe we could work together for a while?" I asked him carefully, wary of his reaction. To my relief he nodded.

"That would be nice, it gets lonely sometimes…" He said and a small, hesitant smile made an appearance on my lips. Maybe this wasn´t such a bad idea as it had seemed from the start.

I just hoped that the others were okay back at the house.

Traveling with Kimimaro was a lot easier than to travel alone and it didn´t take to long for us to find a trail that could possibly lead us to Orochimaru.

We were examining a possible hideout when both Kimimaro and I got a feeling. Our gazes met and then we started to run further into the hideout, Orochimaru was here.

We had located him to a large room in the center of the building and were now slowly approaching the door separating us. But suddenly the door flew open and Orochimaru was in the doorway.

"I see that my hired killer have gone and turned on me, we can´t have that can we? And to join forces with my enemy… Now that is just plain rude." He said and then he attacked us.

The fight was nothing like I had expected, it was just a blur, not the detailed movements that I would have thought. I didn´t know who killed who but when everything was over both Orochimaru and Kimimaro was dead and I was left alive and alone.

I was numb.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter Twenty four**

It took me forever to get out of the building, I felt numb and disoriented. What should I do now? Everything was over and I didn´t know what to do… I knew in the back of my head that I was shocked and having a mental breakdown but there was nothing I could do about it.

So I called Hidan.

"Hello?" His voice was tired; he was apparently sleeping badly if at all. And it was probably my fault, since I had left them without notice to end my nightmare on my own. But at least I had done it.

"Hidan?" I whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear me.

"Sakura? Is that you? Where are you are you okay?"

"They´re dead. Hidan they are both dead and I don´t know what to do!" I started sobbing and he had to call my name several times before I heard him.

"Slow down Sakura. Where are you? Who is dead and are you okay?" He sounded tense but collected and I suspected that he was gathering a team to come and get me as soon as he figured out where I was.

"I´m… I´m at an abandoned fabric in the small town four hours south of you, an old toy factory. Orochimaru and Kimimaro, they´re both dead… I… I don´t know… I´m not feeling anything, I´m numb."

"Stay where you are, we´re coming to get you." He told me before someone took the phone away from him.

"Sakura tell me how you´re feeling." It was Kakuzu who had taken over the phone and I could hear a car engine in the background.

"I don´t know… numb, disoriented, sad…"

"Okay that´s good. Now I want you to look yourself over and tell me if you´re bleeding or have any visual injuries." I put the phone down and did as he had asked me, going over myself twice to be on the safe side.

"I have blood on me but I don´t think it is mine… The only thing I can see is that I might have dislocated my shoulder again." I told him and then sat down on the ground, waiting for them to come and get me.

I had someone on the phone, talking to me the entire time it took for them to get here and by then I had figured out that it was Hidan, Kakuzu, Madara and Sasori who was coming for me.

I was on the brink of falling asleep when I heard voices closing in on me. I wasn´t sure it was Hidan and the others so I hid underneath an old desk and waited for them to show themselves.

"Sakura are you here?" A voice called that I immediately recognized as Sasoris. I exited my hiding place and ran towards them; barely stopping myself from hugging them. I had forgotten that my shoulder was most likely dislocated.

"Hi…" I greeted them in a small voice and then they had surrounded me, Kakuzu kept them from hugging me though, saying that he needed to look over me first.

He did that but didn´t find anything other than bruises and my dislocated shoulder which he swiftly popped back into place. Then I was smothered in hugs as they led me out to the car so that we could go home.

I was going home.

The ride back was quiet and calm, but that might be because I fell asleep after only a few minutes. When I woke up we were pulling up in front of the house and I suddenly felt nervous. How was everyone going to treat me now?

As soon as I entered the house I was dragged away by Konan, she didn´t stop until we were in her bedroom. She hugged me tightly, crying and mumbling things like how everything was going to be alright into my hair.

I felt tears gather in my eyes and pulled away slightly from her before whispering.

"I´m not sure about that, I don´t know how to live a normal life… And what if I destroyed what I had with Hidan when I just walked away like I did?" I was sobbing now and I could see that Konan´s eyes also glistened with tears.

"Hidan loves you Sakura, he won´t change because of this! We all actually understood why you left on your own even if we didn´t approve of it."

"Really?" I asked her, disbelieving. She only nodded and told me.

"Of course Sakura, you´re part of our family now after all."

After that Konan and I cried, laughed and talked and after a while it actually felt like it would be alright again.

Now I only had to talk to Hidan…

I knew that when I left the bedroom belonged to both of us, but as I now stood outside the door, I wasn´t so sure…

So I knocked.

When he opened the door, he looked surprised to see me standing on the other side.

"Why are you knocking?" He asked me as he stepped aside to let me in.

"I wasn´t sure if it was your room or our room…" I told him truthfully and carefully sat down on the bed.

"Of course it is our room, why would you think something else?"

"Because of the way I left… I wasn´t sure if I would be forgiven…" I admitted while looking at my hands. I heard Hidan sigh before his weight settled next to me on the bed.

He was playing with a small box in his hands and told me with a smile.

"Well, I had planned on giving you this as a second birthday gift when we arrived at our hotel weekend but it seems like now is a better time after all."

He gave me the small box and I stared at him for a minute before hesitantly opening the box. Inside was a ring, a beautiful band of white gold with tiny diamonds scattered over its surface.

He gently took the ring and slid it on my finger, it fit perfectly.

"Do you like it? I even got a matching one as you told me." He whispered in my ear and showed me that he wore a ring similar to mine; the only difference was that his didn´t have any diamonds on it.

"I love it…" I told him, watching how the diamonds glittered as I moved my hand. I then looked deep into his amazing purple eyes and said.

"And I love you."

"I love you too, forever." He told me and then proceeded to kiss me; soon making me let out small moan and mews in pleasure.

As we lied close to each other in the afterglow about an hour later, I realized that as long as I had Hidan by my side, I could handle anything life threw my way.

For as long as we were together, we were strong.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Epilogue **

It had now been two years since the mess with Orochimaru had ended and everything was as good as it possibly could be.

Pein and Konan had had their babies, two beautiful baby boys that were now close to a year and a half old. Nagato had his mom's fantastic blue hair and his father's purple-grey eyes. Yahiko had gotten his father's bright orange hair and his mother's amber eyes.

Deidara and my brother were still together and were as happy as when they first met.

Itachi had been hanging out more and more with his cousins, Madara and Shisui and both of them were now seen regularly in the house with us.

Kisame, Kakuzu, Zetzu and Tobi were doing much the same thing as before, but all of them were happy for a day of to play with the twins or watch a movie with the rest of us.

And Hidan and I were harboring a secret. It seemed as if I were wrong to assume that I couldn´t have children after all. I had gotten pregnant and Hidan was overjoyed, we were going to tell the rest of the gang tonight.

It seemed as if I would have a happy life despite my troubled childhood.


End file.
